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Affordable housing residents at ‘Sky Pool’ development locked out of basic facilities

Affordable housing residents at the London development with the world’s first ‘Sky Pool’ are not allowed to opt in to even basic amenities, it has emerged.

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The Sky Pool at Embassy Gardens in Nine Elms (picture: BBC News)
The Sky Pool at Embassy Gardens in Nine Elms (picture: BBC News)
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Affordable housing residents at the London development with the world’s first ‘Sky Pool’ are not allowed to opt in to even basic amenities, it has emerged #UKhousing

Two housing associations that own shared ownership properties at the Embassy Gardens scheme have been accused of “contributing to the divide” between private and affordable residents.

Footage of the clear-bottomed swimming pool suspended 35 metres in the air above Nine Elms went viral in June as it was enjoyed by private residents during a heatwave.

But the images attracted criticism over the fact that affordable housing residents at the development, many of whom live in flats overlooked by the pool, are not allowed to use it.

Shared owners at Embassy Gardens have since told Inside Housing that their requests to be granted access to more facilities at the scheme – even including basic services such as post collection – have been refused.

As a result, affordable residents say they have suffered a spate of parcel thefts due to deliveries being left out in the building lobbies.

The scheme’s developer, Ballymore, and Optivo and Peabody, which own the shared ownership flats at the block, have also denied shared owners the option of paying extra service charges for more amenities.

Optivo said Ballymore has told it that there no longer remains the option for its residents to access additional services, as the amenities have been “designed and built to capacity”.

Affordable residents claim they make up around 10% of the estate and that only some are interested in opting in to extra amenities.


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A resident representing Optivo shared owners told Inside Housing: “Our residents don’t care too much about the Sky Pool, of course it would be nice to access it but for us it’s more about simple things like parcel collection, particularly as people have been getting parcels stolen as the couriers leave them in the lobby.”

“We’ve had lots of excuses about why we don’t have access, but they won’t give us access even when we’re willing to pay.

“That’s when we started to realise it’s not really about affordability – it’s purely about keeping a divide between private and social residents.”

He added that he believes the housing associations are contributing to this divide in the development.

He said: “There’s a complete lack of service from Optivo and Peabody and when we try to raise issues we get sent from pillar to post between them and Ballymore.

“It’s almost like all the parties are playing together on the discrimination against the shared owners.”

Optivo and Peabody opted out of their residents having access to the health club, cinema, two swimming pools, business centre, lounges, concierge and post room at Embassy Gardens before it was built.

They said the decision was taken to make service charges more affordable.

But a resident representing Peabody shared owners at Embassy Gardens pointed out that they must pay around £500 a year per flat in service charges for security and CCTV that covers the entire estate, effectively subsidising surveillance of amenities they are not allowed to use.

Shared owners are not able to opt out of these costs – and when parcels were being stolen, the CCTV operators refused to check cameras without first being contacted by police, he added.

Peabody informed shared owners this month of a 26% rise in service charges backdated to April, amounting to about £62 a month per flat. The increase is now on hold after being disputed by residents.

The Peabody resident said: “The paradox is that with the new increase, a one-bed shared ownership flat pays only £98 less per month than their neighbours who have access to two health clubs, a cinema, two pools including the Sky Pool, a business centre, lounges, concierge and post room.

“The whole thing is already unaffordable; I would rather pay more and get access to those facilities.”

He added: “I suppose if you want to have something that is exclusive, you need to exclude someone.”

A spokesperson for Peabody said: “Decisions taken at handover were to protect people from high costs and keep service charges low, not for any other reason.

“We understand that some shared owners may like to pay for a concierge and other amenities at Embassy Gardens.

“Unfortunately, a bespoke opt-in service charge system where some individuals pay for some amenities but not for others would be difficult to administer.

“It wasn’t agreed at the outset with the developer and would be challenging to accurately apportion costs in that scenario. There would also be logistical challenges with residents receiving different services in the same block.

“However, if anyone feels they are not getting an appropriate level of service, we would encourage them to contact us directly so we can take it up with the freeholder and managing agent and seek solutions on their behalf.”

In a statement, Optivo said: “When we purchased the blocks, we told Ballymore we wouldn’t buy into these additional services as these are affordable homes and it’s important we keep our service charge as low as possible.

“As a charitable housing association, ensuring our homes are affordable for our residents is a top priority.”

It added: “We’re always clear with residents from the beginning what services and facilities are available in their block.

“We do everything we can to provide a high-quality service to our residents at Embassy Gardens.”

A spokesperson for Ballymore said: “We aim to create great places and positive experiences for all our residents.

“All residents at Embassy Gardens receive the same service in terms of estate management, security, fire command and control, general building safety and energy supply.

“However, Peabody and Optivo own and manage the shared ownership properties. Prior to construction, both had the option to choose the facilities they wanted to buy into for their residents.

“To ensure a lower service charge, Peabody and Optivo opted out of access to the health club, cinema, pools, business centre, lounges, concierge and post room.”

At a recent London Assembly meeting, deputy mayor for planning Jules Pipe said City Hall’s position is that affordable residents should have the right to opt in to facilities such as swimming pools and gyms.

Wandsworth Council also said that it has “always encouraged” housing associations to provide an opt-in option and that it has tried to address the issue of residents having no choice over some charges through its planning policies.

A spokesperson for the council added: “It is also not unusual for the council to take up resident issues with the quality of services as has been the case on a number of occasions with this development.”

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