The outgoing chairperson for the Athelstan Road Tenants and Residents Association (ARTRA) is urging Thanet council to compulsory purchase ‘dilapidated’ blocks of housing in the Cliftonville street.
Matt Shoul says the council needs to step in and take over specific properties in a bid to give people decent living standards while also reducing the numbers on the housing waiting list.
He has reiterated his comments after a block in the road was deemed uninhabitable over the August Bank Holiday with families having to be moved out to temporary accommodation.
Torrential rain set off fire alarms at the block, which contains 20 flats, on August 24. A whole building blackout followed flooding at the property and of the building’s main electricity distribution board cupboard.
The property was disconnected from the power supply for safety reasons.
It is understood the roof of the building was undergoing works but adequate weather protection had not been put in place.
Fire service attendance
Kent Fire and Rescue Service was called in with crews in attendance for four hours. A KFRS spokesperson said: “Kent Fire and Rescue Service was called at 12.42pm on 24 August to Athelstan Road, to reports of smoke alarms sounding.
“One fire engine attended and crews discovered it was a false alarm and a significant water leak was affecting the buildings electrics and smoke alarm system.
“There were no reported injuries, the Volunteer Response Team also attended to support residents affected.”
A UK Power Networks spokesperson added: “We were called to a property in Athelstan Road, on 24 August to disconnect the electricity supply for safety reasons at the request of the fire service.”
Many of the 20 flats were empty with less than eight having occupants.
Thanet council has placed four families in temporary accommodation and Lucy Cook, of Missing Cats and Strays in Thanet, stepped in to accommodate 14 cats that were in one of the flats.
Mr Shoul said: “To prevent the seemingly endless cycle of Athelstan Road’s larger blocks of tenanted properties being passed perpetually from landlord to landlord, ad infinitum, at some point local authority action, in the form of CPOs, may be a humanitarian and/or legal necessity.
“Approximately just 8 out of the 20 flats in the (affected) block were still occupied, leaving more than half the flats available to reduce the council waiting list, if not all 20.
“As outgoing ARTRA chairperson, I wish to reaffirm my position on encouraging TDC to acquire (properties) through a CPO, and make a substantial and extremely positive move towards reversing the ongoing decline in living conditions on Athelstan Road.
“Without action on this level, the numerous blocks of 20 flats or more on Athelstan Road, will continue to physically decline with the constant, very real risk of a Grenfell Tower style tragedy, involving loss of life as an increasingly likely possibility, if not an inevitability.”
Mr Shoul said those families who have had to move into temporary accommodation are “pretty traumatised by the situation.”
It is understood Yogindranath Abhee, new landlord of the property attended by fire crews, bought the building at the end of July and has been contacted by the council to ensure roof repairs are completed ‘without delay.’
He is carrying out renovations at the property and safety checks and redecoration of the flats.
‘Interventions’
A Thanet District Council spokesperson said: “The council is providing emergency accommodation for four households living in the property in Athelstan Road, while repairs are carried out.
“Prior to the building being condemned, the Private Sector Housing team investigated complaints about the condition of two flats and common areas. As a result, informal interventions and formal enforcement actions had been taken. Evidence of rainwater entering the building indicated that the main roof needed to be repaired or replaced.
“It is understood that the building’s new owner had instructed contractors to replace the roof, but appropriate weather protection was not put in place.
“Kent Fire & Rescue Service attended the site and due to the large water leak affecting the electrical installations, they contacted UK Power Networks who disconnected the electrical supply, making the site safe. This affected 14 flats, most of which were unoccupied at the time.
“The council has been in contact with the new owner to ensure that the roof replacement is completed without delay and that the electrical installations are made safe and reconnected.
“The council will ensure that all tenants with a lawful right of occupation are permitted to return to the property once it has been made safe. Further enforcement action will be taken if appropriate.
“Anyone living in privately rented accommodation who is experiencing issues with their property is always welcome to contact the Private Sector Housing team and wherever possible officers will provide advice and support. Further information is available on the council’s website.”
Why should TDC pick up the bill to put this right ,if the landlord had put some of the rent he was getting back into the property’s then this probably wouldn’t have happened,
Indirectly it us tax payers picking up the bill, for the landlord
Why should TDC/us the tax payer have to pay for this? Absolutely not. Shoul not happy again, there’s a surprise. I think it’s time he and soap box finds somewhere else to live.
In the end, governments nationally and locally, have to sort out the mess. It,s no good expecting private owners or employers to deliver a decent service as they spend their time avoiding any cost to themselves. I wonder why politicians waste their time asking private businesses to do the right thing. Just take over these flats. It will be cheaper in the long run.
The building and flats in it would have been covered under a licence for selective licensing, the scheme ran for 10 years and only finished in 2021 ( the licence may have had time to run , before the building changed hands).
Difficult to imagine the building deteriorated to such an extent in the time since the end of selective licensing, so TDC should have been aware of its condition.
The new landlord could be seen to be making efforts to improve the property if it was only purchased in August, that the works weren’t done in the best manner another issue. The building must be in a bit of a state if it’s only 40% occupied and had 14 cats in one flat.
As for Mr. Shoul , by now he’ll have come to understand why Athelstan has long been one of the cheapest places to buy a property in thanet.
I feel a need to comment on this issue as the new landlord is being unfairly treated. This block has had multiple owners over the last 6 years. None have carried out work on this property to bring it up to standard. The council has been uninterested and has housed people here in dire conditions. The new landlord is undergoing extensive work to bring this property up to a high standard. He has owned this property for less than 6 weeks. The roof of the property is forcast for completion in the next week. All flats have had eicrs and gas safety checks carried out and all rectification works are being completed by the landlord. Damaged floors, walls and ceilings are being dealt with. Every flat is being redecorated and new kitchens fitted.
The landlord is ensuring that this place is bought upto standard and does not deserve the aggravation is now having.
The article should be about why Thanet council allowed previous owners to run this property into the ground.
Yep, how did it get in that state so soon after the selective licensing scheme finished, rather suggests it was in a dire condition during the licensing period , but as the scheme was little more than a desk based revenue raising measure , it’d be interesting to know if it was ever inspected. Assuming it had a licence it must have had eicr’s in place as that was a licence condition.
Is the landlord getting grief from TDC or is it being instigated by the residents association?
Keefogs, how many tenants have the private rented sector killed? Grenfell, lakanal , awab. All in the social sector. Historically and currently the social sector has issued 80 percent of all section 21’s.
By all means witter on about private landlords, but at least acknowledge the social sectors failings.
Or is it ok for people to be killed ?If the numbers were reversed the private sector would have legislated out of existence by now, but the ideologically blinkered just can’t accept facts and failure.
Tdc do not have the money for vanity projects.
A lot of these landlords are an absolute disgrace. They just buy the properties at auction never bothering about them. Then they employ local cowboy builders to spruce the places up a bit and then they leave them to rot. The council should make compulsory purchase of the dilapidated property paying the lowest price possible, for them.
Your right Bill, one of these “dodgy” landlords was recently exposed, and he was a Labour MP!
Bill, the council has a vast array of legislation it could use to deal with poor quality rented housing, but it doesn’t, remember the case that took 14 years to bring to court over standards of management in Athelstan road.?
Plus it seems the council had used the building in this article for emergency housing, quite conveniently emergency housing is exempt from many of the rules. If the council has placed people there then they are complicit in allowing the building to be used in such a state.
The mew owner is seemingly having necessary works done to improve the building within a couple of momths of buying it, i. Can’t see that anyone could say his actions are unreasonable, the fault in this case could well lie with ht eroofers and the way they’ve gone abput the works.
It’s fortunate that one landlord owns the whole building freehold, if the building were split into leases and the freeholder vanished ( as is the case for many such buildings) it becomes almost impossible to get things done outside of individual flats as the freeholder is almost always responsible for the common areas and structure , the leaseholders have no legal right to do the works or charge others for work if they did it.
It’s an area that needs new legislation , councils won’t get involved in such properties currently as the costs are substantial and there are too many pitfalls.
TDC bought the old Oasis building, the top floor is unused ( quite why i don’t know but suspect that to do so would invoke a whole raft of fire safety requirements) so Mr. shouls comments regarding unused accomodation are a bit ironic.
The council overpaid for Oasis , had asbestos removal contractors and electricians working there for some time after the purchase and they “say” they want to convert it into council owned housing at a later date, it’ll end up some of the most expensive council housing in thanet. Until the conversion the behaviour of some of those currently living there will continue to blight the area, which is odd given the efforts over the years to improve cliftonville.
The new owner is taking steps to repair the building so the council would not have any jurisdiction for a CPO. They are however responsible for making sure the work is certified safe for the small number of previous legal tenants to return.