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YOUR NEWS
PEOPLE NAMES AND DETAILS WILL ONLY BE PRINTED WITH THEIR PERMISSION.
GREEN SPACE STANDARDS
Hackeny green spaces
Green spaces on Hackney's housing estates should conform to a borough-wide set of high standards, according to an Overview and Scrutiny report this week.
A review of Hackney's green spaces by the borough's Living in Hackney Scrutiny Commission has made a number of recommendations that have gone before the full Hackney Council.
Representatives from Hackney Homes and RSLs should also be members of a Green Spaces Forum, to maintain top quality green areas in the borough's housing estates, and ensure a standard approach.
The Commission also recommends that councillors play a more active and formal role as local champions of parks and open spaces in their wards. Responding to the Commission's findings, the Cabinet proposes local elected members participate in the development of parks management plans through Park User Groups.
More informal play area provision was also something Commission members wanted to see from the Parks Service, while greater publicity for all parks and green spaces, through various media, should form part of a forthcoming Open Spaces strategy.
Please sign - Category: Housing, Petition Title: Reform Housing Associations and Policies
We, the undersigned, are tenants / leaseholders of Social Housing Landlords ( RSLs ) and we declare our dissatisfaction at the poor level of service being given to tenants by RSLs.
The main causes of complaint include poor repairs service, poor response in regard of anti - social behavior, ineffectual resolutions to noise nuisance, failure to implement Terms of Tenancy, indifferent attitude to tenants, general poor and slow response.
This situation is compounded by lack of genuine tenant consultation and RSLs having no accountability.
Further, the current home ownership schemes ( following years of think - tanks costing multi - millions ) continue to offer limited options to those that wish to remove themselves from social housing rental.
Immediate reform is needed including:
Giving tenants at least 50% of places on Management Boards ( some RSLs have 20,000+ properties yet not one tenant sits on the Board );
Tenants Complaints Panel to include 50% tenants; The creation of a truly independent regulator;
Large fines / withdrawal of funding should be placed upon RSLs that do not perform properly as regards to customer service, best value; Limitation of the charges placed on leaseholders for
repairs / maintenance;
Review of current ownership schemes which are still not realistic for many;
Urgent review of whether current style of RSLs is capable of delivering the requirements of tenants in
regard of Customer Care ( there is currently a ? one size fits all approach ? ). Real tenant consultation
is needed.
Dear Chair
Hackney Councils proposal to sell of what it quotes as “Under Used Land” to Housing Associations is an abuse of trust to all the residents of Hackney, council estate residents and private residents alike.
What is this “Under Used Land” on estates? It is green spaces that provide play areas for our children and others in what other wise is a very drab environment.
What will the housing associations build on the patches of land? “Affordable Homes”.
Affordable? With a one bedroom flat at £200,000, how affordable is that to a Nurse, Teacher, Fireman, and Low Paid Worker etc.
No one can deny at a time when there are several thousand people in Hackney requiring housing, that we need more homes. However, there are any number of Brownfield sites in Hackney that can be utilised for that, without building on our already largely over crowded estates. Further there does not appear to be any thought given to the infrastructure, surrounding the proposed new builds. At a time when many of our children already have to travel out side the borough to school there is no mention of increasing school places in their proposal.
Why will the council not consider building homes themselves?
Make no mistake a Sell Of to a Housing Association, is a sell of to a Private Developer bent on maximising their profits.
All the residents of Hackney own the land on council housing estates; the residents of the estates are the guardians of that land. All voters should protest this sell of.
Lastly, lest any one thinks the residents of Aspland and Marcon Estates are being NIMBY’s. We are not part of the proposed sell of’s.
Yours faithfully.
Tony Osborne.
Secretary
Aspland & Marcon Court Estates
Tenants & Residents Association.
Terry J Edwards Housing allocation - points system
Councils must ensure priority for social housing goes to those in the greatest need. Some councils do this by using a points system. Points are awarded according to the circumstances and level of housing need.
What are points?
The law states that in allocating housing 'reasonable preference' must be given to certain categories of persons. These categories are:
people who are homeless
people living in insanitary, overcrowded or unsatisfactory housing
people who need to move on medical or welfare grounds
people who need to move to a particular locality in the district of the authority, where failure to meet that need would cause hardship to themselves or to others
In addition, councils may give additional preference to people in the above categories who are considered to have more urgent housing needs. A points system must take these factors into account.
Applying for a home (opens new window)
What other factors are taken into account?
Other factors which a points system may take into account could include:
residency - do you live in the area where you are applying for housing?
financial circumstances - are you on benefits or in paid employment
tenancy record - for example, have you a good record or have you accrued rent arrears?
time on register - you may gain extra points if you have been on the housing register for sometime
You can request a leaflet from your council that details how it allocates its housing points.
The points system is based on your present circumstances. If your requirements change, if you are expecting a child for example, you must contact your council as soon as possible. You will need to fill in a new application form as you may be reassessed.
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