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Places for People sent out eviction notices by mistake
Places for People has admitted it mistakenly issued tenants with eviction notices in a block it intends to decant for refurbishment before they knew about the plans.
Possession orders were handed to 16 tenants at Hornbeam Court in Milton Keynes last month without explanation, the housing association has since apologised for acting “prematurely”.
Hornbeam Court is made up of 43 flats let by Places for People at market rent.
Places for People – which is one of the UK’s largest housing associations with nearly 200,000 homes under management across its group, including those run on behalf of other landlords – said it apologised and retracted the notices following the error.
It added that it needs to empty the block “to enable an extensive refurbishment to be completed”, including gutting interiors, replacing bathrooms and upgrading the building’s “mechanical and electrical infrastructure”.
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All tenants have now been told about the refurbishment plans and told they will be helped to find and move into a new home with the option to move back to Hornbeam Court once works are completed, Places for People claimed.
The refurbishment is expected to take 18 months and will not start until all tenants have been rehoused.
“Our customers’ safety and well-being are paramount to us and we are sorry for the confusion that had arisen,” Places for People said in a statement.
But Nigel Long, cabinet member for housing and regeneration at Milton Keynes Council, accused the landlord of “really poor practice”.
He told Inside Housing: “I think we need some real clarity from Places for People. They are a major player in Milton Keynes and the practice seems to be very poor.
“There is no doubt that they should have consulted all the residents first before taking any action. If they are doing up the block that’s great but what’s going to happen after that – are they going to sell the flats, are there going to be higher rents?
“There has been no consultation with the residents’ association or the council so it just strikes me as really poor practice. They really need to come clean on it.”
A spokesperson at Places for People, which asked for its statement to be published in full, said: “We can confirm that Hornbeam Court consists of 43 market rental apartments. We need to rehome our customers, and will work through an agreed decanting process, to enable an extensive refurbishment to be completed.
“We prematurely served 16 customers notice to terminate the tenancy before we had spoken directly to all our customers about our plans for Hornbeam Court. We made a mistake, we apologised to our customers and retracted these notices.
“We have let all our customers know that we need to refurbish the building and their apartments, including gutting interiors, replacing bathrooms, and improving the building’s mechanical and electrical infrastructure. We cannot complete these works while our customers are in the apartments.
“We have been to Hornbeam Court and are continuing to meet with our customers to discuss their individual requirements and options. We have let them know that we will be helping them all find and move into a new home, and they will have the option to move back in to Hornbeam Court once the extensive refurbishment has taken place, if they want to. We anticipate the works, once planning is approved, will take 18 months, and we will keep our customers updated on progress.
“We will not commence work until we have safely rehomed all our customers. Our customers’ safety and well-being are paramount to us and we are sorry for the confusion that had arisen.”
