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Councillors in a north London borough have opted against guaranteeing secure tenancies for residents of a block that hit the headlines over its poor conditions.
Barnet Council’s housing and growth committee voted against changing its allocations policy to grant secure tenancies to long-standing non-secure tenants at Marsh Drive on Monday night.
Marsh Drive is the last original block standing on the council’s West Hendon Estate, which is in the midst of a 2,200-home regeneration project led by a joint venture between Barratt Homes and Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing.
Poor conditions at the block – particularly vermin, security issues, and damp and mould – have been highlighted on BBC Two’s Victoria Derbyshire Programme, as well as in an Inside Housing investigation.
CLICK HERE TO READ OUR FEATURE ON MARSH DRIVE
More than half of its 232 flats are occupied by temporary accommodation residents on non-secure tenancies, meaning they are not entitled to a new home on the estate unlike leaseholders and secure tenants.
The residents had asked for secure council tenancies at meetings with the council and its ALMO, Barnet Homes, as compensation for their living conditions and in recognition of the fact that some have been in temporary accommodation for as long as 20 years.
But the council decided at the meeting on Tuesday that this would not be fair on households in greater housing need, amid fears it could face legal challenges from people in urgent need who have been made to wait longer for housing as a result, or people already moved away from regeneration schemes into other temporary accommodation.
“Residents will be rehoused under the current housing allocations scheme, with every effort being made to provide homes in the local area and where possible on secure tenancies – including housing association properties,” an officer’s report to the committee said.
Others will be moved to alternative temporary accommodation.
Barnet Council and Barnet Homes have maintained Marsh Drive only for legal compliance and essential repairs since the estate was earmarked for demolition in 2002, while its flats were never subject to Decent Homes works.
The block is due for demolition in 2022, but the council has moved forward its closure date 18 months to October this year as a result of the maintenance issues.
A structural assessment by Ridge and Partners completed last month found that the building, constructed in the 1960s using a large panel system and containing a piped gas supply, is “inadequately robust to prevent disproportionate collapse in the event of an internal gas explosion”.
Barnet Homes is now replacing residents’ gas cookers and installing gas interrupters at the block, with the £1.2m estimated cost of replacing the piped gas supply deemed too expensive given Marsh Drive’s short remaining lifespan. An action plan has also been put in place by Barnet Homes in an attempt to improve conditions.
Residents are now being assessed for rehousing, with the officer’s report describing the work as “a significant undertaking” that “will place short-term pressure on the housing options service”.
Five of the 121 non-secure households at Marsh Drive have so far been offered secure tenancies.
Barnet Council scrapped lifetime tenancies in favour of flexible tenancies with five-year reviews in 2012.
The authority currently has around 2,500 households in temporary accommodation, including more than 800 as non-secure tenants on regeneration sites.
According to the officer’s report, the earlier closure of Marsh Drive will cost £705,000 in security and patrol bills while the block sits empty for longer.
Barnet Council is speaking to Barratt and Metropolitan about speeding up the regeneration scheme, it added.
The West Hendon Estate regeneration is expected to take 17 years, completing in 2028/29, with 851 homes delivered so far and 250 of these affordable.