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news report Saturday January 31, 2009 19:47 by paster - this is from the bristle bloggers site...
Places for Profit?
Our old friends People for Places raise tenants' service charges by 30%
Tenants across Bristol of so-called “social” landlord Places for People are no doubt delighted to be receiving news of their increased service charges this week.
With the RPI standing at 0.9% and falling and the headline inflation rate at 3.1% and crashing towards zero for April, the greedy bastards have decided to raise charges by up to 30%!
That’s right. Some of the the city’s poorest people are being hit - by a charity that claims to “conduct our business in a socially responsible and economically sustainable way” - with charge increases at over ten times the rate of inflation at the start of the most brutal economic downturn since the 30s.
Places for People, of course, are the Housing association that pay their Chief Executive, David Cowans, a whopping £257,000 a year plus extraordinary pension benefits. Will Cowans be taking a pay cut to reflect the tough times and perhaps help reduce the financial impact on his tenants?
No reports yet of Britain’s sleaziest landlord removing his snout from the trough…
“conduct our business in a socially responsible and economically sustainable way”
That's a good one. Since passing from BCHA to PFP, standards dropped dramatically. Places For People are a landlord like any other, they pay lip service to social acuity and if you can't pay your rent through no fault of your own, including benefits mess ups orfailing to cope with it all, they'll take you to court for possession. Services standards also dropped after PFP took over, months long waits for repairs, etc. BCHA were at least small and personal, PFP make the tenant a number on a very big list. The increases to service charges are par for the course.
I'd love to complain to PFP about the treatment I received from them and its consequences, and with the expectation of some kind of response, of being heard, only being an ex-tenant rather than an existing one I do not expect to be listened to, and don't even know where to send such complaints in the first place. . .
this link http://www.placesforpeople.co.uk/customers/customerbook...s.pdf downloads a form to fill in about any complaints you have. There are also freephone numbers you can call to check if there are any time limits for complaints. From what i can tell there aren't.
The procedure is you complain to them, then if you arn't satisfied you take it to the Housing ombudsman (http://www.ihos.org.uk/)
If enough people feel the same there's always more direct ways of getting some results, LCAP from London seem to be quite good at this:
PfP have a serious cash flow crisis at the moment and have to raise cash fast to pay the rather high interest rates they have been forced to accept. Oh - and cut back further on repairs.
Since, unlike the rather more wealthy banks, the Housing Associations haven't yet been bailed out by the government it is the poor who will have to have to pay for the government's deliberate policy of encouraging Places for people, and other Housing Associations, to borrow beyond their means.
30% is nearer the actual real inflation rate for common bought goods; checkout the cost of a loaf of bread. If the service charges mentioned are not covered by Housing Benefit then this is further pressure on limited budgets.
Note: PfP is limited in what it can charge for so it may be possible to challenge the rent legaly; unlike a private landlord like Rachman.
I realise PfP aren't perfect, but as someone who has worked inside their properties both now and when they were BCHA, I can assure you that they manage them a damn site better than BCHA ever used to. I'm afraid that people seemed to be looking at BCHA through sepia tinted glasses - they were an appalling institution in terms of how they treated their customers, especially new tenants. Much of the difficulty that PfP have encountered in Bristol has related to the expense involved in getting all the BCHA housing stock up to 'Better Homes' standards. The cost involved in this has impacted on repair budgets and will likely be a reason for increase in the service charge.
Should point out to those that aren't aware that this is a long way from a 30% rent increase. In many general needs properties this increase works out at less than £1 pw. The properties with the highest service charges are generally supported accommodation, where the majority of service charge is covered by HB.
Afraid I'm not going to put a real name or company here for various reasons, but I work for a well known charity that supports those in housing need. PfP aren't the best in Bristol by any stretch, but they're closer to the top of the pile than the bottom. Although I have working partnerships with PfP, I have them with the majority of Housing Associations working in the South West also.
make this your indymedia front page
Saturday January 31, 2009 19:47
by paster - this is from the bristle bloggers site...
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That's a good one. Since passing from BCHA to PFP, standards dropped dramatically. Places For People are a landlord like any other, they pay lip service to social acuity and if you can't pay your rent through no fault of your own, including benefits mess ups orfailing to cope with it all, they'll take you to court for possession. Services standards also dropped after PFP took over, months long waits for repairs, etc. BCHA were at least small and personal, PFP make the tenant a number on a very big list. The increases to service charges are par for the course.
I'd love to complain to PFP about the treatment I received from them and its consequences, and with the expectation of some kind of response, of being heard, only being an ex-tenant rather than an existing one I do not expect to be listened to, and don't even know where to send such complaints in the first place. . .
L:
this link http://www.placesforpeople.co.uk/customers/customerbook...s.pdf downloads a form to fill in about any complaints you have. There are also freephone numbers you can call to check if there are any time limits for complaints. From what i can tell there aren't.
The procedure is you complain to them, then if you arn't satisfied you take it to the Housing ombudsman (http://www.ihos.org.uk/)
If enough people feel the same there's always more direct ways of getting some results, LCAP from London seem to be quite good at this:
http://www.lcap.org.uk/
nice one
s
hey that link to LCAP was interesting.
PfP have a serious cash flow crisis at the moment and have to raise cash fast to pay the rather high interest rates they have been forced to accept. Oh - and cut back further on repairs.
Since, unlike the rather more wealthy banks, the Housing Associations haven't yet been bailed out by the government it is the poor who will have to have to pay for the government's deliberate policy of encouraging Places for people, and other Housing Associations, to borrow beyond their means.
30% is nearer the actual real inflation rate for common bought goods; checkout the cost of a loaf of bread. If the service charges mentioned are not covered by Housing Benefit then this is further pressure on limited budgets.
Note: PfP is limited in what it can charge for so it may be possible to challenge the rent legaly; unlike a private landlord like Rachman.
I realise PfP aren't perfect, but as someone who has worked inside their properties both now and when they were BCHA, I can assure you that they manage them a damn site better than BCHA ever used to. I'm afraid that people seemed to be looking at BCHA through sepia tinted glasses - they were an appalling institution in terms of how they treated their customers, especially new tenants. Much of the difficulty that PfP have encountered in Bristol has related to the expense involved in getting all the BCHA housing stock up to 'Better Homes' standards. The cost involved in this has impacted on repair budgets and will likely be a reason for increase in the service charge.
Should point out to those that aren't aware that this is a long way from a 30% rent increase. In many general needs properties this increase works out at less than £1 pw. The properties with the highest service charges are generally supported accommodation, where the majority of service charge is covered by HB.
Afraid I'm not going to put a real name or company here for various reasons, but I work for a well known charity that supports those in housing need. PfP aren't the best in Bristol by any stretch, but they're closer to the top of the pile than the bottom. Although I have working partnerships with PfP, I have them with the majority of Housing Associations working in the South West also.