Tenants have been informed by a housing organisation that they must vacate their residences due to the premises’ irreparable state.
Eight families living in a two-storey block of flats in Bidborough Ridge, Bidborough, near Tunbridge Wells, have been told by Town and Country Housing they will have to move – although no date has yet been set.
Sarah Ramsden, 59, is one of the 17 tenants distressed at the news.
She said: “I’ve lived here 15 years. I am disabled and can’t do stairs. I moved here to be near my daughter, who lives in the same block and helps me.
“It’s heart-wrenching. I’ve spent years getting the garden nice and the flat just right, only to be told we have to move.”
Mrs Ramsden suffers from numerous medical complaints, including osteoporosis, arthritis and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).
Three times in the last year, she has required her daughter to call for an ambulance on her behalf.
She fears she and her daughter won’t be rehoused in the same place despite Town and Country’s assurance that they will find new housing, and she worries about where that might be.
She said: “The neighbours here are nice and it’s a pleasant place to live.
“The place I lived before – Walnut Way in High Brooms – was horrendous. The kids were forever slamming balls up against my front door and swearing at me.
“I’m terrified of going back to somewhere like that.”
The Town and Country flats at Bidborough Ridge are something of an outlier in the village. Sitting next to Bidborough Village Hall, they comprise the only social housing in a street consisting mainly of large detached private homes.
She said: “Some of the tenants here think that is why Town and Country want to demolish our homes – to sell the land and make a profit. They say the plot’s probably worth £3 million or £4 million.”
But she conceded: “All the flats here have a problem with black mould.
“I keep the mould in my flat under control by wiping it with bleach and keeping the windows and curtains open, but some of the other flats are worse.”
She said Town and Country had tried to address the issue when, two years ago, it replaced many of the flats’ windows, to little effect, and now it has decided the block needs a new roof.
In a letter to residents dated April 30, the association said the flats also needed upgrades to make sure they met new regulations around fire safety and carbon emissions.
Mrs Ramsden said: “Funny enough, a few weeks ago, they did come in and put fire-resistant doors on the cupboards in the hallway – but not on our flats.”
Town and Country told tenants it appreciated “this news can be upsetting” but said they would each benefit from an £8,100 Home Loss payment and be eligible for a disturbance allowance to cover such costs as reconnecting to utility supplies in their new properties.
Mrs Ramsden said: “The cost is likely to be a lot more than that. I imagine we will all need new curtains, new carpets and perhaps our furniture will not fit the new place.”
Her daughter is worried about bigger issues.
Mrs Ramsden said: “Danielle has three children aged 15, nine and five.
“They all go to local schools and have their friends and clubs in Bidborough.
“But there are no other Town and Country properties in Bidborough, so she’s afraid they will end up moving schools, which will be disturbing, especially for my eldest granddaughter, Willow, who’s just preparing for her GCSEs.”
A Town and Country Housing spokesman said: “As a not-for-profit organisation providing more than 13,000 homes, we need to make sure we are making sensible financial decisions and that our homes meet environmental and sustainability legislation.
“Bidborough Ridge needs extensive work to improve its energy efficiency levels, including a new roof and windows. This work would involve considerable cost and disruption, which is why we are working with residents to find them new Town and Country homes.”
“Our specialist team will be providing full support throughout, and residents will receive the statutory Home Loss payment of £8,100, providing they have lived in their current home for at least 12 months before the move date.
“They will also be eligible for a Disturbance Payment. This is to help with costs such as removal fees and disconnections, and reconnections of services, and is calculated on a case-by-case basis.
“There is no fixed deadline that residents need to move out by, but once empty, we will look to sell the property.
“All money raised will be used to further support Town and Country Housing homes and residents.”
Town and Country told residents that although the timescale for their move was “flexible,” it would “like to start as soon as possible”.
Mrs Ramsden said: “We’ve been given no choice. It seems they can do what they want to us.”
The point here should be, ‘why have Town and Country Housing allowed all their properties to go into disrepair?
On their website, Town and Country Housing state that they provide more than 13,000 affordable homes to local authority areas across Kent, Surrey and Sussex, and that over the years they have invested heavily in their homes, and continue to do so as part of the Peabody Group – well clearly that’s not true.
It also states that their residents are their number one priority so that they can help people flourish, and that they do that by providing great homes and servces, by making a positive difference to the communities they serve, so that they can provide an inclusive and inspiring place to work – evidently not true either.
These tenants should be aware of their rights and alternatives because housing stock is very small, so where are they going to put all these people? They will be entitled to compensation, but even so, that does not cover the stress that it will cause them to move.
Some children will have to relocate to other areas and that will be a stress for parents who’s children are about to take their GCSE’s and that is just not fair to these children who are our future.
Families will be divided and sent to live in different areas where they will not be able to access their family, and they will feel isolated and alone. These properties will either be demolished or given to migrants.
Housing associations get financing from the UK government, mostly through initiatives like the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme and the Affordable Homes Programme.
These initiatives promote the construction of inexpensive housing, such as shared-ownership and social rent dwellings, by providing grant money and low-interest loans, so why are their premises in an ‘irreparable state’?
According to reports and research, the UK government does not supply adequate funding for housing associations to meet the demand for affordable housing, and studies have suggested that a substantial increase in grant funding is required, with some estimating an extra £14 billion per year.
Additionally, despite the fact that there is a strong demand for social rent houses, as noted by Crisis and the National Housing Federation, the quantity of these homes being constructed is constrained by a shortage of funds.
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