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Imagine spending years in a council building with damp-walled apartments, leaking pipes, and malfunctioning heating. The "challenging economic climate" caused the council to abandon its long-standing pledge to revitalize your neighborhood.
Residents of the Fred Wigg social housing tower block in Waltham Forest, east London, are compelled to cope with precisely that
A large portion of social housing in Britain is in despair as a result of councils' refusal to pay attention to tenants.
The Labour-run Waltham Forest council is now refurbishing the block, but it is ignoring its tenants and ploughing ahead with changes that donât address the issues residents face.
Resident Sam told Socialist Worker about the conditions heâs faced over the last five years. âI couldnât flush my toilet for a year, and I have no light in the kitchen. I asked the council about it and three times it sent someone.
âBut every time they come, make a note, leave and donât actually fix the issue. I actually had to get solicitors involved.â
Sam pointed to a pipe just outside his flat. âThatâs been leaking for two years. You can smell it from in hereâitâs attached to the upstairs flatâs toilet. I sent a message to the owner over a year ago, but they just asked me to move the rubbish outside my door. Itâs a joke.â
The conditions have a big impact on residentsâ health and wellbeing. âI was also told that Waltham Forest council doesnât clean windows, but Iâm on the 13th floor and I actually canât see out of my windows anymore,â said Sam.
âThatâs not good for your mental health. Itâs very hard to invite people over hereâsometimes people are even worried about entering the block.â
Sam also said there was a huge issue with dust. âItâs difficult to breathe in here. Plus, my bathroom air vent hasnât been cleaned in years so I had to tape it up to stop the dust coming out of it. I went away for a few days, came back and everything was covered in dust.â
âNow the refurbishment has started, thereâs so much dust in here. I can feel it in my mouth.â
The council began this current refurbishment project earlier this year, but it had previously stated it would demolish and regenerate the building. Saria, a resident for over a decade, explained.
âThe council wanted to Âregenerate the building in 2013, but it had to stop because the plans used ACM cladding.â This is the highly flammable cladding that was used on the Grenfell tower block that erupted into flames in 2017, killing 72 people.
âThe redesign didnât go through because one contractor wanted more money. Residents wanted bathrooms, kitchens and outstanding repairs. Thatâs all we wanted.
âBut the council totally disregarded us and wanted to do different workâthat involved a new heating system that currently does not work.â
And during Covid, âThe council said it had run out of budget so it just didnât do anything.â Saria continued, âThere were loads of questions unanswered about the whole process. There were no Âmeetings to explain what was going on and Âcommunication was non-existent.â
Rather than addressing the tenantsâ concerns over heating, bathrooms and kitchens, the council made the decision to remove all the cladding from the outer walls over fire safety.
Saria said, âThe fire brigade said the council needed to install new alarms. But they arenât even turned on right now, and the sprinkler system isnât working. The council just decided to take the panels off.
âContractors started taking the panels off in March, drilling the hell out of the building from 8am. When we complain, they just say they are allowed to drill at this time.
âNow, the government can say whatever it wants, but we are the ones living in here. Listen to us.â
Amir, who has lived at Fred Wigg for five years, said, âRight now, if I wake up, from 8am to 5pm, thereâs just drilling in my ear, which is annoying, but you canât avoid it.â
Amir also noted how the council has failed to inform residents about its plans. âI donât really know what they are doingâI just know they are replacing all the walls. They are now putting plasterboards up on our side, but on the other side I donât know.â
Saria said, âOn 14 October they told us they were taking out the balcony walls. But there was nothing in any of the consultations about this.
âNow the walls are taken out, people are getting cold. And the Âheating system residents are paying for doesnât workâbut the council is just not listening to us. Contractors were meant to send us a booklet to explain why and how, but we didnât get that until two weeks after they started.â
Saria slammed the councilâs attitude towards its tenants. âThe majority of people here are people of colour, and the treatment we are getting is, well, I canât even say the word Âdisrespectful, I canât even find the word.â
When contractorsâ plans included removing the car park, Saria and others had to hold a protest.
âThe council and contractors then told residents that the tenants and residents association (TRA) stopped them from putting in new bathrooms and kitchens, which was a lie,â Saria added. It was an excuse so the council didnât have to fix what tenants wanted.
Saria said, âThe council is acting like this to make it so uncomfortable that residentsâquite a few who want to stayâwill turn around and say âI want outâ because of the drilling, the cold, the leaks, all the problems.
âWhen the next regeneration plans come, people will vote for it and people will move. Itâs social cleansing.â
âThe council brought us here,â Amir said, âbut we were only meant to stay here a year because the building was meant to be knocked down and the council said it would find us a different house. But that never happened.â
Sam argued, âThe council put us in this situation and it expects us to just brush it off because we arenât clued up. It thinks we donât know whatâs going on. And the people that live here either come from a worse place so donât feel like they can complain, or they are worried they will lose their home.
âI want to change this place a lot. Not everyone wants to do that, but itâs important. In reality, most of the youth just want to get out of here.â (Sourse: Socialistworker)
Fred Wigg is part of a wider crisis in social housing. Councils continue to prioritise new builds, enabling the process of gentrification, instead of looking after social housing.
Again and again councilsâ attitude towards tenants in social housing is one of disregard and dismissal. And that, we already know, can lead to disaster.
