ACORN North West region

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ACORN's North West region contains the Branches and Groups Manchester and Liverpool, as well as many other members in other towns and cities, all fighting campaigns on the issues that matter to them. Join in with an action near you so we can win.

We are stronger together.

ACORN's North West region contains the Branches and Groups Manchester and Liverpool, as well as many other members in other towns and cities, all fighting campaigns on the issues that matter to them. Join in with an action near you so we can win.

We are stronger together.

Tell Leef to Compensate Tenants for Unsafe Housing!

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Leef let our member Frazer a flat in a tower block with a broken outside door. Strangers were walking in off the street, stealing him and his neighbours’ post, and smoking cigs in their hallways for nearly 6 months!

The block’s lift broke and fell with Frazer trapped inside it - when he tried to call for help, the alarm system didn't work! He had to wait until the fire brigade were able to cut him free. The block’s rubbish was also rarely collected from the communal trash room and spilled out into the corridor with nowhere else to go.

Adding insult to injury; Frazer was left without an oven in his flat for a whole year. When one of the camping hobs they gave him instead broke, it took three months for Leef to replace it - and then only after it gave his partner an electric shock! When Frazer left early, not able to put up with the place any more; his landlord’s agents even threw out his stuff!

We don’t think anyone should have to pay for dangerous housing where you can’t even cook properly. We’re demanding that Frazer get his rent back for the four months it wasn’t safe to live in the building, and that he be compensated the cost of his stuff that was thrown away. Support Frazer by telling Leef’s owners - Joe Knowles and Chris Wright - that you’re appalled by them profiting while their tenants are put in harm’s way

At ACORN we know that when we're on our own, people in power can treat us however they like. It is only when we come together and use our strength in numbers that we, as ordinary people, can tip that balance of power and make change happen!

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Dear Joe Knowles and Chris Wright; Owners of Leef Property Management,

I am writing to you regarding the unpaid compensation due to Frazer Shaw, a member of ACORN - Union for the Community and a previous tenant of your property in Cardinal Court.

Throughout the events outlined below, Leef have been the sole agency who have claimed rent or service charges from Mr Shaw; and I believe that you, as the owners of Leef Property Management, have a moral responsibility to reimburse his rent for a period in which his home was unlivable, and to apologise for the distress and inconvenience caused to him - regardless of arrangements you or your clients have with third parties which have failed to keep Cardinal Court a safe and hospitable home.

I believe that the living conditions for Mr Shaw at Cardinal Court were unacceptable, unhygienic, and unsafe. I am shocked by the sheer amount of disrepair in both his flat and the building more generally; and it appears to me that the only way to begin making this situation right is through a recognition on your part that nobody should be forced to pay rent to live in such an appalling situation.

Not only was Mr Shaw left without an oven for the whole of his tenancy - despite him being promised one after viewing the property - one of the two electric camping hobs he was provided with broke, leaving an exposed circuit board and going unrepaired and unreplaced for three months. It’s deeply concerning that any tenant is left without adequate cooking facilities for an whole year, and more disturbing still that even the rudimentary equipment which allows them to cook was left in a potentially dangerous state of disrepair for so long.

This serious issue almost seems incidental compared to the dangerous and frightening state of disrepair in the communal facilities of Cardinal Court. One of the external doors broke in the unlocked position in July 2020 and, barring a short period of time after it was repaired and before it broke again, remained open to any non resident until at least January 2021. During this time, local crooks routinely accessed the building and broke down doors to the communal post and bike rooms in order to steal residents’ belongings. Bored teenagers similarly let themselves in; smoking cigarettes in the communal areas and intimidating residents - as well as increasing the risk of coronavirus spread in the communal areas by making social distancing more difficult.

The lift in Cardinal Court fell and trapped residents (including Mr Shaw) inside it on two occasions. In Mr Shaw’s case, he further discovered that the alarm system in the lift did not work, and he was consequently trapped in a confined space until he was able to alert the fire service to his predicament. The communal bins in the property were also infrequently collected between August 2020 and at least the time of Mr Shaw’s departure in January 2021 - with rubbish regularly spilling out into the corridor due to the lack of space in the designated waste area. Both of these issues appear to me to compromise residents’ safety, and to make it impossible to feel comfortable and happy in their homes.

A home should be a place of safety, and a place in which a person can relax and provide for their immediate needs. Mr Shaw’s flat at Cardinal Court failed to do either of these things. The equipment in his flat and the communal areas of the building made him unsafe, he had to contend habitually with malicious intruders to the building, and he was not even at liberty to prepare a decent meal in his flat. I am not surprised that he saw no other option than to leave Cardinal Court before his tenancy ended; and I find it deeply objectionable that, after his departure, several of his belongings were thrown away without prior contact with him and despite his attempts to arrange a time for picking them up.

As stated earlier, Leef are the only agency to charge Mr Shaw to stay in the property - regardless of who you or your clients subsequently paid for maintenance services that were inadequate or not carried out. ACORN members and the wider public are holding you, as owners of Leef Property Management, accountable for the outrageous conditions that our member has been expected to pay rent for. As such, I believe you have a moral duty to recognise just how damaging living in these circumstances has been to Mr Shaw and that this situation was unacceptable and never should have happened.

To do this, you need to provide:
 
- An unreserved written apology to Mr Shaw
- A return of his rent for the period where the flat was intolerable to live in, including the period in which he had moved out and continued paying rent (December 2020-March 2021 Inclusive: £2200)
- £100 compensation for the value of his belongings that were thrown away before he had a chance to collect them.

ACORN fully supports Mr Shaw in his demands for full and fair compensation, and so do I. You must arrange for this compensation to be paid by the end of Wednesday 12th May. Confirmation of this arrangement should be sent to xav.cohen@acorntheunion.org.uk.

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