Tenants flee their homes in Cumbria

One housing association revealed that some of its tenants have faced additional heartbreak as their homes were looted by thieves after they had been driven out by the floods.

Other tenants were left trapped without access to telephones, shops or money as the floodwater rose.

Housing officers handed out mobile phones to vulnerable residents and organised buses to supermarkets.

Mike Muir, chief executive of Impact Housing Association, said that 18 of its 70 properties hit by flooding were so badly damaged they would be out of use for at least four months. The remainder needed sewage removing and the electrics checking before tenants could move back in.

‘We have 35 tenant households who are in temporary accommodation at the moment, either with friends or we have put them up in hotels,’ said Mr Muir. ‘The issue now is we have started to get a bit of looting.

‘We are also concerned about what happens when people get back in their homes. In some cases we will have to provide counselling and other support services.’

A spokesperson for Home Group, which owns around 9,000 properties in Cumbria, said it believed 29 of its homes had been affected. ‘The scale of the impact of these floods is so great that the army and the emergency services will not even allow us near 16 of these properties,’ she said.

‘We have no idea how many others have been affected, and it will be some time before we have any idea whether tenants can move back in.’
Weather permitting, Home Group will inspect all the homes this week.

Meanwhile, in Workington, a number of Derwent & Solway Housing Association tenants lost access to shops and doctors after two bridges linking the Northside estate to the town collapsed. An emergency centre at Northside Community Centre was established to hand out food supplies to residents.

The army was hoping to build a temporary bridge across the river to reconnect the two parts of the town.

Derwent & Solway was also considering accepting cash payments from tenants unable to pay their rent by other methods.

Robert Porter, director of Derwent & Solway, said many donations of food and white goods from high street shops had been received for people whose homes had been devastated.

‘The spirit of residents from the affected communities has been quite humbling, given the level of distress many are experiencing,’ he said.

Eden District Council has opened a reception centre for 15 people forced from their homes. It has also found space for two families and their pets in local bed and breakfasts. One household has been allocated longer-term temporary accommodation.

Allerdale Council said it was expecting an influx of calls from people needing rehousing. A spokeswoman said: ‘It is still too early to tell how many people will need new homes.’

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