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editor said:
Paulet update

www.brixtonbuzz.com

Paulet Estate community garden to be redesigned with a new space for residents to grow food

The Paulet Estate community garden is going to be redesigned to give the community a space to grow their own food and to help the environment.
www.brixtonbuzz.com www.brixtonbuzz.com
Click to expand...

I find these schemes tend to be announced to great fanfare, with short term funding, flashy new stuff and then ultimately fall into disrepair. I really hope that this isn't the case and they try and forge links with the Remakery, Myatt's Field Park and LJAG and Loughborough Farm so that any changes are sustainable. Something modest with additional community gardening space would be great. The current space always seems a little barren and I am not sure how much the small kids play area is used seeing as Elam Street and Myatt's Field are so close by.
 
Had just started watching the Channel Four News tonight when I heard the lock rattling and got up to investigate when my front door opened and a black guy with matching face mask and a duffel coat was inside the front door.
At first I thought it was my lodger - but when I saw it wasnt I asked what the guy was up to.
I'm working for your landlord he says - and disappears upstairs.

I didn't know what to do, being 66 and not up to a fight with someone maybe forty years younger.
I didn't think ringing the fuzz was short-term realistic.

As it happens my home invader reappeared in a couple of minutes coming down the stairs. He was just checking my fire extinguishers he said before heading off into the snow.
He didn't nick my birth certificate, or my lodger's laptop - but until my lodger comes back from night shift I can't be sure nothing valuable has been stolen.

I've been burgled twice and had one attempted break-in since I've lived in Brixton - prior to this American style home invasion.
Maybe one just gets immune?
 
Outrageous

hope you’re not too traumatised.
24 hrs notice as said above
Here is one of the more comprehensive guides from google on landlord access etc
www.pettyson.co.uk

Landlord Access Rights: Can A Tenant Refuse Entry?

It seems like the most obvious thing in the world, but the question of whether or not a tenant can refuse entry to a landlord is not as straightforward as one might expect. Landlord access rights are frequently misunderstood and can be frustrating if you don’t know where you stand, which is why...
www.pettyson.co.uk www.pettyson.co.uk

I suspect your next practical course of action will be guided by your appetite for a fight and whether the landlord is private or an HA or council etc


Edit to add - if you do decide to go down the (immensely satisfying) Green ink and legal threat route, check first that your lease allows you to have a lodger
 
Last edited:
You are latching onto the guy's patter. This was a burglary - except I happened to be in. I imagine he may have been as surprised as I was - but he didn't let it put him off.
My lodger was not too pleased this morning to find his iPad had been taken.

The problem essentially is that when lodger went out yesterday he didn't double lock the door.
Ironically several years back I locked myself out.I couldn't get in even with the help of two neighbours
I had to have Fortress Lock into change lock and fitr London bar etc.

Now a Fortress reinforced lock does not seem to have stopped a determined burglar using the credit card trick or similar on the yale.
 
David Clapson said:
So he had keys and he just let himself in? Wtf? You're supposed to get 24 hrs written notice of a landlord's visit, and they're supposed to ring the bell. You'd better start bolting the door.
Click to expand...
Your suggestion about bolting the door is a good one.
I think I'll remove Lambeth's anti-draught strip they put in years ago.
Stopped me bolting the door tightly shut - and increased the draughts.
 
Gosh, CH1 that sounds horrible - I think you did the right thing to stay calm - not sure how you managed it! I always lock my door from the inside (deadlock) at least at night and often during the day. I leave the keys near the door (but not accessible through the letterbox) in case I need to get out , open the door or someone else (not a burglar) needs to get in. This was on police advice when lots of houses in my old street were getting broken into in the same way as you house was.
Take care
 
Ouch - sorry for the loss (and my misinterpretation).

What others said re bolts,
As Sparky said, keys close to hand in case you need to exit in a fire
Maybe a security chain if the draft v deadlock equation doesn't work with current weather
 
It seems we need to rename Tulse Hill, Thurlow Park and Vassall ward. They were all named after pro-slavery people:
Vassall ward was named after Henry Richard Vassall-Fox, whose statue in Holland Park was vandalised last year.
Thurlow Park was named after Edward Thurlow, who tried to sabotage anti-slavery legislation.
Tulse Hill was named after Sir Henry Tulse, a former Lord Mayor of London who profited from the West African slave trade.
Click to expand...

www.standard.co.uk

‘Brixton Windrush’ ward proposed for south London

Parts of south London are set to be renamed to honour the Windrush generation and erase links with slave traders.
www.standard.co.uk www.standard.co.uk
 
CH1 said:
You are latching onto the guy's patter. This was a burglary - except I happened to be in. I imagine he may have been as surprised as I was - but he didn't let it put him off.
My lodger was not too pleased this morning to find his iPad had been taken.

The problem essentially is that when lodger went out yesterday he didn't double lock the door.
Ironically several years back I locked myself out.I couldn't get in even with the help of two neighbours
I had to have Fortress Lock into change lock and fitr London bar etc.

Now a Fortress reinforced lock does not seem to have stopped a determined burglar using the credit card trick or similar on the yale.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear that CH1. I think it is much easier to become accustomed to it if you don't see it happen. But coming to face to face inside your home is pretty scary.

The credit card trick is easily prevented with a self or auto deadlocking nightlatch. Yale make a very secure one and there are cheaper copies from about £50 which are also better than a regular nightlatch. I would never install anything less (I now use three point self deadlocking locks - a bit like modern patio door locks).

You should also have a deadlock lower on the door to prevent it getting booted in, and ideally hinge bolts (very cheap and easy to install). Make sure deadlock is thumbturn on the inside so that you cant get locked in. And a spare key safe for the ... uh ... spare key (if you are allowed in communal areas). Of course, all of that is pointless if you have a crappy door.

I broke into my neighbours house after he locked himself out a few weeks ago. His was a regular nightlatch. I used a box of chocolates as that was what he had in his shopping bag. No kidding.


I mentioned previously my mates bike getting nicked and that he got it back in a sting (thief worked at Halfords!) So I offered him share of my bike store which he accidentally left unlocked and both our bikes were consequently nicked (my beloved 2008 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR comp silver / blue, if anyone happens to come across one). To rub salt in, he then locked it properly and the thieves came back two weeks later with bolt cutters and chopped the armoured security hasps off (thankfully no bikes left to nick).
 
David Clapson said:
It seems we need to rename Tulse Hill, Thurlow Park and Vassall ward. They were all named after pro-slavery people:


www.standard.co.uk

‘Brixton Windrush’ ward proposed for south London

Parts of south London are set to be renamed to honour the Windrush generation and erase links with slave traders.
www.standard.co.uk www.standard.co.uk
Click to expand...

Well they may be quite different wards too.

Tulse Hill's being split into two so needs new names. Thurlow Park is changing a bit. Vassel is a bit different and will be named after Myatt's Field.
 
Rushy said:
The credit card trick is easily prevented with a self or auto deadlocking nightlatch. Yale make a very secure one and there are cheaper copies from about £50 which are also better than a regular nightlatch. I would never install anything less (I now use three point self deadlocking locks - a bit like modern patio door locks).

You should also have a deadlock lower on the door to prevent it getting booted in, and ideally hinge bolts (very cheap and easy to install). Make sure deadlock is thumbturn on the inside so that you cant get locked in. And a spare key safe for the ... uh ... spare key (if you are allowed in communal areas). Of course, all of that is pointless if you have a crappy door.

I broke into my neighbours house after he locked himself out a few weeks ago. His was a regular nightlatch. I used a box of chocolates as that was what he had in his shopping bag. No kidding.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that advice. I reckon simply locking the mortice would probably have prevented this robbery.
I did report it to the police online, and several phone calls back from them they have now closed the case because there is not enought to go on evidentially - which seemed obvious from the start.
I'd be intrigued to view brglary stats locally right now. Not a subject I've had to interest myself in for a long time.
 
TopCat said:
Stop them rusting and not working. Plus your friend may be out or not want drunk keyless mate staggering round at 3am.
Click to expand...
I had a friendly next-door neighbour who kep some keys from 1986 - about 2010 when they moved to St Albans.
I guess I need to reach out from my silo as they say these days.
 
heres the latest on Lambeths shameful decision about Cressingham Gardens planning permission:

Today by Gerlinde Gniewosz, Organiser
Thank you for all of your support to date. Last night Lambeth’s Planning Application Committee (PAC) agreed 6:1 in favour to demolish the Ropers Walk block on Cressingham and to build a really ugly building in its place (sorry, no other way to describe it). Our lawyers were able to submit another strongly worded letter to the PAC before their decision, which you can read here:

Cressingham Gardens part-redevelopment given planning go-ahead

Nevertheless, the council officers were still insistent that they were not salami-slicing the estate. The salami-slicing aside, there is so much more wrong with the proposed development on all levels, but none of the planning committee members, except for the Green councillor Becca Thackeray, were willing to tell the council’s own property development company that they should go back to the drawing board. Moreover, it was very sad that the majority of committee members seem to not put any weight on the human rights breaches that they were condoning against the residents in the block, in particular the 83 year old former NHS nurse, and their destruction of their homes.

Residents are considering next steps for the challenge, to be announced soon…. So do please spread the word as I suspect it may be another big legal fight.
Click to expand...
 
CH1 said:
Had just started watching the Channel Four News tonight when I heard the lock rattling and got up to investigate when my front door opened and a black guy with matching face mask and a duffel coat was inside the front door.
At first I thought it was my lodger - but when I saw it wasnt I asked what the guy was up to.
I'm working for your landlord he says - and disappears upstairs.

I didn't know what to do, being 66 and not up to a fight with someone maybe forty years younger.
I didn't think ringing the fuzz was short-term realistic.

As it happens my home invader reappeared in a couple of minutes coming down the stairs. He was just checking my fire extinguishers he said before heading off into the snow.
He didn't nick my birth certificate, or my lodger's laptop - but until my lodger comes back from night shift I can't be sure nothing valuable has been stolen.

I've been burgled twice and had one attempted break-in since I've lived in Brixton - prior to this American style home invasion.
Maybe one just gets immune?
Click to expand...
That sounds really scary! hope you are ok.
 
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