On 15 June, representatives from PRERA met with the Lambeth Council’s new Cabinet Member for Housing – Cllr Paul Gadsby. Also present were our local councillor Liz Atkins and several senior officers responsible for the council’s housing stock. At the meeting we discussed four key areas:
- Maintenance
- Contractor performance
- Waste management
- Community space
We felt that the meeting was a significant milestone in our campaign to get a better service from the council in these areas. Signs of progress include:
- An acknowledgement from the council that Palace Road Estate has not been receiving the service it should from housing management.
- A restructuring of the housing management service next month, with reallocation of housing officers to estates.
- A written description of the service that we should expect from estate housing officers.
- Recent surveys of the structural condition of the blocks of flats. This will inform future prioritisation of works across Lambeth.
- The scheduling of an inspection of the estate by the incoming manager responsible for housing across the whole of Lambeth [carried out on 22 June].
- A commitment that leaseholders would not be charged [directly] for work to rectify problems with the poorly constructed cladding for the water pipes that were installed in 2013.
- An acknowledgment that water distribution around the site is failing and needs replacement. This was proposed to be included in the 2019/20 capital works programme.
- A commitment to develop a policy for bulky waste disposal on council estates.
- Prioritisation of Palace Road Estate in the placement of the council’s stock of mobile CCTV cameras (after Tulse Hill Estate), to deter fly-tipping.
- Support from Cllr Gadsby for residents to have access to the community space within the new resource centre on Coburg Crescent.
- An acknowledgement that the council needs to better engage with PRERA in future.
