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Morning Briefing: tenants win London segregated garden battle

Council tenants on a London estate have won their fight to use gardens reserved for owners of multimillion pound flats.

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Photo: Getty
Photo: Getty

The residents of Westbourne Place in Maida Vale had complained to Octavia Housing Association they were unable to access the garden, the BBC reports.

However Westminster Council said gates installed by developer Redrow were “never designed to keep certain residents separate”.

Some of the residents denied access are former Grenfell Tower residents and disabled children, according to a separate report in The Guardian. It is the latest example of segregation of social housing tenants on mixed-tenure developments.

Octavia said it had now agreed a commitment so residents could gain access and was “very pleased” with the outcome.

In April, then housing minister Kit Malthouse said the government would explore strengthening planning guidance to stop such segregation.


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Malthouse wants planning laws to stop social housing segregationMalthouse wants planning laws to stop social housing segregation
Morning Briefing: London ‘housing segregation’ under scrutinyMorning Briefing: London ‘housing segregation’ under scrutiny

Meanwhile, troubled care home operator Four Seasons is facing further issues as rent negotiations with its landlords are in danger of “falling apart”, The Daily Mail’s money channel This is Money claims.

The group called in administrators for its two hold companies earlier this year concerning struggles with debt. However chairman Martin Healy told the channel it was “confident of reaching consensual agreements on our leasehold properties”.

Elsewhere, it appears the government could be wavering on its pledge to end its benefits freeze.

Thérèse Coffey, the work and pensions secretary, said she could not give a definitive answer on whether the freeze on most working-age benefits and tax credits will continue, The Guardian reports.

Under a move introduced by George Osborne the freeze was due to last until the end of the 2019/20 financial year. Coffey has said talks about what the government will do next are ongoing, the paper said.

In local news, it has been revealed a Greater Manchester council is chasing £5.1m of housing benefits it wrongly paid to residents.

However the council said the amount owning is the lowest in the region, the Manchester Evening News reports.

And a council has apologised after a man with Huntington’s disease had his care package cut.

Milton Keynes Council reduced Roy Baker’s care from 35 to 23.5 hours a week after an officer said the authority no longer funded “shopping and domestic support”, the BBC reports.

But an investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found the council was “at fault”.

On social media

In a well-worn PR move by politicians, housing secretary Robert Jenrick spent the night sleeping on the streets. He has also this week been speaking exclusively to Inside Housing

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