Tenants tell council how to improve social housing

A multi-million pound plan to improve Swindon's social housing has started with a series of public engagement events.

The Swindon Borough Council "Let's Talk Housing" events asked for feedback from tenants to help it target the "right issues in the right order".

At these events tenants raised safety, maintenance and anti-social behaviour concerns, with one tenant saying: "People are scared, they don't want to live there anymore, it's not safe."

The council has allocated £250m to make improvements after a report by the housing regulator found "serious failings" in standards and said "significant improvement" was needed.

Christopher Weston attended the first Let's Talk Housing event to raise safety concerns on behalf of his elderly mother who has lived in a council-owned property for two years.

He said: "The council are not doing what they should be doing."

Another tenant, who wished to remain anonymous, raised concerns over his safety because he said that drug dealing in his block has been ongoing for three years.

He said: "I want them [the council] to get rid of the people doing the drug dealing, I want them thrown out, they're breaking the tenancy agreement."

Danny Iles lives in a 10-storey block of flats in Park North, Swindon.

Living with a water leak for two years which has spread from his bathroom to his hallway and kitchen caused Mr Iles's brother to move out of the property, which they shared together for 15 years.

Mr Iles said the council came out on multiple occasions but failed to fix the problem and "in the end I gave up".

He said the situation has left him with feelings of "stress" and "anger" adding he feels like he has been "forgotten about".

Swindon Borough Council's head of housing, councillor Janine Howarth, said she wants to "reassure Danny that we are working over the next five years to bring the housing stock up to the standard it should have been over the past 20 years".

Council leader, Jim Robbins, said the events enabled the council to talk to tenants to ensure they "target the right issues in the right order".

In December the council self-referred to the housing regulator and following a critical report it has committed to raising the standard of council housing over the next five years by spending £250m.