Councillors grill bosses of a disgraced housing association after shocking living conditions exposed

By Tara O’Connor, local democracy reporter

Merton councillors grilled bosses of a disgraced housing association on Thursday after shocking living conditions on the Eastfields Estate were exposed last week.

Mouse infestations and extreme damp caused by persistent leaks are just some of the problems residents on the Mitcham estate are facing everyday.

The 497-household estate is managed by Clarion Housing on behalf of Merton Council.

It has fallen into disrepair as the council looks to regenerate it along with the High Path and Ravensbury estates.

Michelle Reynolds, the chief operating officer for Clarion, admitted she would not be happy to live in the some of the shocking conditions that have been exposed.

Ms Reynolds was repeatedly asked what Clarion does to check that homes meet the “decent homes standard” set by the government.

Abbey ward councillor Ben Butler said: “It is not clear at all how you check what properties are regularly falling below the standard.

“If there are any measures you have at the moment that see what properties are below standard, does it feed into your database and if not why not?

“Part of the communication should be letting the residents know what the standard is so that they can report to you directly whether their property meets it or not.”

Ms Reynolds said that she recognised that homes on the Eastfields Estate are “not up to the standard they should rightly expect”. She added: “I would like to apologise myself on behalf of Clarion.”

She added: “I think just to reiterate, we absolutely do stock condition surveys and that is of each block and each of the homes.

“Through our regeneration team we will be meeting with individual residents and understanding their household needs.

“One of the areas that is key is that a number of our residents on the Eastfields Estate are overcrowded and there is the desperate need to regenerate this estate to ensure that they are adequately housed in modern efficient homes is our priority.”

She said that people’s homes are not actually accessed unless repairs are reported.

But councillor David Dean was unhappy with the response and said that homes on the estate should be surveyed immediately with tenants of homes not meeting the decent homes standard offered alternative accommodation.

At the meeting, he said: “I read your annual report this morning and it gave me the impression you were a competent organisation and that people should trust you.

“I haven’t seen any of that this evening at all.

“I have friends and family that live on the Eastfields Estate and they have not had their questions answered.

“Frankly listening to what I’ve heard tonight and reading what the decent homes standard is, I can’t see how anybody can dispute that this shouldn’t be happening.”

Ms Reynolds said that Clarion staff will be knocking on doors in the estate this weekend to speak to residents.

The Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Panel met on Thursday evening (June 24) and recommended that the council’s cabinet write to Clarion asking for “detailed information on the conformity with the decent home standard of the stock across the borough”.

The shocking conditions on the estate were first exposed last Wednesday (June 16).

At the time, Clarion apologised to residents and said it would dedicate more staff to the estate to speed up repairs.

A spokesperson said: “There are some cases where we have fallen short of the standards they have a right to expect.”