Michael Gove MP joined residents at North Court in Camberley today (Thursday 27th July) to facilitate a virtual call with senior management of Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH).
Some social housing landlords in Surrey Heath, like Accent Housing and MTVH, have been letting down their tenants with poor service and often slow responses to resolve maintenance issues. Residents in North Court have been experiencing long-standing issues with their landlord MTVH, who have failed to adequately address building safety issues.
North Court consists of a mixture of 55 self-contained units, a mixture of one and two bedroom flats, built between 2006 to 2009 by Crest Nicholson and Laing O'Rourke. Designated as an affordable housing development, the development was originally owned by Thames Valley Housing, now MTVH, on a lease for 125 years.
Commenting, Michael said:
"I have just been to North Court in Camberley to join my constituent, Sally Shiels, together with some of her neighbours on a virtual call with the Chief Executive and other representatives of Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing. North Court residents have been suffering a series of major issues owing to an inadequate service from MTVH, and it was important that their understandable concerns could be relayed to the Chief Executive of the Housing Association directly.
"MTVH explained that a number of changes have been made to improve their service moving forward, and have also explained that they are trying to commence and complete remediation works to the building as soon as possible.
"I can appreciate, however, that residents have little confidence in the promises made and MTVH will need to work to rebuilt trust.
"I will be keeping a close eye on the situation as it progresses, ensuring that MTVH is held accountable."
The visit to North Court by Michael comes on the same day that he has told the country's second biggest social housing landlord: "You have failed your residents."
In a letter to the Chief Executive of L&Q, Fiona Fletcher-Smith, Michael stated that he was “deeply shocked and disappointed” to discover the landlord’s failings had caused residents “unacceptable” and “prolonged periods of distress”. The housing association operates more than 107,000 homes in England.
As Michael stated in the letter:
“This is unacceptable. You have stopped listening to your residents’ voices, and failed to deliver the service that they should expect … in some cases you were described as having been ‘heavy handed’, ‘dismissive’ and even ‘callous’ and ‘confrontational’ … You must take immediate action to remedy these severe failings.”
Following the Housing Ombudsman's findings and Michael's intervention, Fiona Fletcher-Smith has stated L&Q are working to resolve the issues highlighted and are committing an additional £3 billion in a "major works investment programme" to tackle the problems.
Pictured, Michael Gove MP with Sally Shiels, a resident at North Court in Camberley
