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Lambeth Housing In Meltdown - Massive Rent Rises On The Way

Good for you!

Silver_Fox said:
I work for Lambeth Living and everything brixtonworker has said is true, and worse. It feels like the organisation is in total melt down, a big difference from the glossy posters and leaflets that they used to advertise the ALMO (which cost so much money).

The organisation is run by consultants on around £1000 a day, and now the Chief Consultant, Pete Redman, is off leaving the organisation in disarray, but what would he care?

Services are already cut to the bone and now they are saying there will be huge cut backs to staff. They're being very clever about this and doing it team by team in order to lessen resistance from both staff and tenants/leaseholders (or customers as Lambeth Living now calls them). And Steve Reid (the council leader, new labour) has apparently been trying to shift the blame to staff, apparently telling tenants in a recent meeting that staff in housing are rubbish and need to be replaced. Well who runs this organisation Steve and Pete (twiddle dum and twiddle dee)? Aren't you going to take any responsibility? You're meant to running the place FFS!!!

All the while the private contractors carry on absolutely fleecing the council and now Lambeth Living as well. All the staff know that lots of the work is substandard (before they sacked the handypersons they used to spend a big chunk of their time fixing work that private contractors hadn't done properly), that variation orders (extra work orders) are often added on when it's not been needed or even not been done at all (contractors must know there aren't enough staff to do post inspections and even if they do get caught out they just have to say sorry). And what are they proposing, to give private firms contracts worth up to £1 billion and tied in to 7 to 10 year contracts. Yet they won't even do a feasibility study to consider a direct labour organisation (when the services are done in house). From a lot of experience I can say 100% that a well run direct labour organisation (DLO) will always be better than a private firm because there is no profit motive.

The senior management and council leaders are now saying that massive rent rises will be needed while services for tenants and leaseholders go further down hill. You don't need a consultant on £1000 a day to tell you how bad the services are either, a quick look around Lambeth estates will be more than enough. It's sickening and heart breaking that these people are lining their pockets while running the service in to the floor and never have to take any responsibility for it.

This really is a campaign that needs to link up tenants/leaseholders/residents with staff. Hopefully there will be a big demo outside the residents meeting.

If anyone has any questions about what's going on feel free to post them on here and I'll do my best to answer them.
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Well, now you have heard it from the inside; and, I have to say, that is the way it always appeared to me - and to many others also.

People should take up Silver Fox's offer; though I bet that many people that management distrust will have their emails and telephones tapped over the next few weeks.

I wonder if they are on to me yet ? ? ?

Creepy lot aren't they! :mad: :oops: :mad:
 
Get real!

melmaloney said:
Well, now you have heard it from the inside; and, I have to say, that is the way it always appeared to me - and to many others also.

People should take up Silver Fox's offer; though I bet that many people that management distrust will have their emails and telephones tapped over the next few weeks.

I wonder if they are on to me yet ? ? ?

Creepy lot aren't they! :mad: :oops: :mad:
Click to expand...


Since you and most of the other posters here are clearly desperate to have other people listen to what you say, it is odd that you are worried about having your emails read or your telephone tapped! Don't you think that you could be over-estimating your own importance? I really doubt that anyone is interested in your views on housing - or anything else.

Let me assure you that no one is going to risk prosecution for misusing the Council's power to intercept email and telephone communications just to discover what someone in your position might be saying to your friends!

"Silver Fox" is a fool and will probably, quite rightly, be dismissed.

I doubt that the plan to disrupt the Conference on 15th. November will come to anything. The reality is that there are only a handful of people who think like you; and, while no one likes being asked to pay more for anything, the majority of residents realise how lucky they are, and are very pleased with the arrangements that have been made for them.

Of course, if you are really not content with what you have got, you could always look for better conditions elsewhere!
 
How did it happen

3 Years ago before the big reorganisation exercise in Lambeth, which was apparently supposed to save 6 million pounds per year. Lambeth Housing's revenue account was in a very healthy credit.

Fast forward 3 years an a predicited 18 million pound deficit and very poor services is now the situation Lambeth Housing finds itself in. The only real change has been in the senior management within the housing department and a reduction in staffing levels, one would have to ask the question how was the money spent and as a Lambeth Resident what benefit have i seen??
 
onemansview said:

Since you and most of the other posters here are clearly desperate to have other people listen to what you say, it is odd that you are worried about having your emails read or your telephone tapped! Don't you think that you could be over-estimating your own importance? I really doubt that anyone is interested in your views on housing - or anything else.

Let me assure you that no one is going to risk prosecution for misusing the Council's power to intercept email and telephone communications just to discover what someone in your position might be saying to your friends!
Click to expand...

An assurance as worthless as much of what you've posted, given that you can't guarantee your assurance.
"Silver Fox" is a fool and will probably, quite rightly, be dismissed.
Click to expand...
"Probably"?
Care to quantify the percentage possibility, or are you just trying to sound tough, little man?
I doubt that the plan to disrupt the Conference on 15th. November will come to anything.
Click to expand...
Your doubts are immaterial. They matter less even than what you had for breakfast this morning.
The reality is that there are only a handful of people who think like you; and, while no one likes being asked to pay more for anything, the majority of residents realise how lucky they are, and are very pleased with the arrangements that have been made for them.
Click to expand...
That'd be why so many people I know on estates in Brixton, Stockwell and Tulse Hill have been door-stepped by people asking that they sign the petition that's been got up by the local lib-dem chap on the issue, and have happily signed it, would it?
As for your patronising attitude about how lucky people in social housing realise that they are, I'm sure they do, but along different lines from those you assume. We realise that we're lucky to have somewhere to live, given the devastation wrought on social housing in the last 25 years, but most of us don't look upon the council, it's officers and elected officials in the way you imply. Most of us know that they, whatever their affiliation, have been complicit in dismantling the social housing infrastructure.
Oh, and please do quantify just how you know that "the majority of residents" are "very pleased"? I suspect that at best you're relying on a small-scale assessment made after a major renovation on a single estate, or the conflation of several such over a matter of years. :)
Of course, if you are really not content with what you have got, you could always look for better conditions elsewhere!
Click to expand...
Ah, on the one hand sententious twits like you want people to be more politically-involved, but on the other you'd rather they moved on if their political motivations don't match your own.
Excellent, Smithers!
 
norwood_spurs said:
3 Years ago before the big reorganisation exercise in Lambeth, which was apparently supposed to save 6 million pounds per year. Lambeth Housing's revenue account was in a very healthy credit.

Fast forward 3 years an a predicited 18 million pound deficit and very poor services is now the situation Lambeth Housing finds itself in. The only real change has been in the senior management within the housing department and a reduction in staffing levels, one would have to ask the question how was the money spent and as a Lambeth Resident what benefit have i seen??
Click to expand...

Are there any major renovation projects (re-roofing, re-glazing etc) going on at the moment?

Seems to me that a deficit would be acceptable if the people of the borough have actually derived a solid and lasting benefit from the deficit, but I can't think of any examples that show that such a thing has happened.

Just loads of waste, some graft and the usual complacency.
 
onemansview

On yer bike!

Now, I won't have anything bad said about Norman Tebbit. He is a sweet old man of liberal opinions! ;)
 
Why is anyone bothering to debate with onemansview, they're clearly on a wind up or just a loon. I'd just ignore them.

The only real change has been in the senior management within the housing department and a reduction in staffing levels
Click to expand...

Spot on. Nearly the entire senior management in Lambeth Living were/are consultants. And the bit of Housing that's remained under council control is also full of them. And as you say they've turned the budget from being in credit to massively in debt, while the services have gone more and more down hill.

Scrapping the handypersons, cutting back on caretakers and closing down housing offices. There are plans to reduce area offices to three area offices, not long ago there were well over a dozen. This mean tenants now have to go long distances to reach their local office. They are now cutting back the concierge service among other things.
 
Silver_Fox said:
Why is anyone bothering to debate with onemansview, they're clearly on a wind up or just a loon. I'd just ignore them.

Quote:
The only real change has been in the senior management within the housing department and a reduction in staffing levels

Spot on. Nearly the entire senior management in Lambeth Living were/are consultants. And the bit of Housing that's remained under council control is also full of them. And as you say they've turned the budget from being in credit to massively in debt, while the services have gone more and more down hill.
Click to expand...

Not quite spot on.
The only other major change is that 3 years ago, Labour was not in control in Lambeth. The elephant in the room if you ask me.

While people might like to absolve Labour of all responsiblity and pretend it's the fault of evil greedy consultants, the fact is it happened under their watch. The consultants do not hold a gun to the housing department's head. The administration is there to provide direction and oversight and they have failed and should be punished accordingly.

The amount of council tax we pay in this borough is crippling and completely out of line with the quality of services we receive. Lambeth council flushes our money down the toilet on a daily basis, just today I read an article in the Guardian on how they will be spending £90,000 of our money on reflexology for children who misbehave. Unbelievable!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/nov/03/reflexology-feet-behaviour-schools

Think of what good that £90,000 would have done in the current housing crisis. It would have paid the salaries of anywhere from 3 to 6 people who instead will be on the dole this Xmas.
 
Sorry yeah you're absolutely spot on about Labour, I was just talking about how things were run internally, but obviously that is largely decided by the councillors. But have to say the Lib Dems and Tories are all as bad in my view.

Totally agree about New Labour, everything that is happening flows from their political ideogogy and they are totally pro consultants.
 
What's changed?

:) From www.lambethlabour.com in 2006 -


"The full extent of the crisis created by Lambeth’s former Lib Dem and Tory Housing bosses has been revealed in a briefing to the new Administration. The scale of the mismanagement is truly staggering.
The briefing confirms that in the final year of the Lib Dem and Tory administration Lambeth’s Housing department overspent on their budget by an incredible £9million. It goes on to say that £5 million worth of savings which was supposed to be made as a result of a reframing exercise 'appear not to have been delivered.'
The newly released information makes clear the true level of incompetence of former Lib Dem Housing boss Keith Fitchett and his Deputy Bernard Gentry. Labour Councillors, who were elected to run the council in May, are now putting in place measures to deal with the financial mess for the benefit of tenants and leaseholders
The document shows under the Lib Dems, repairs were not being properly managed and that localised repair teams were not delivering for tenants. It states: 'Repairs spending is generally much higher than budgeted. Local services teams have not achieved significant volumes of repairs.'
The briefing goes on to say that, pending any recovery, money from the £2.8 million housing fraud will be borne by Lambeth Council. In 2005, poor management and lack of financial checking in Housing lead to a fraudster stealing £2.8 million from the council, leading to cancelled repairs and the resignation of the Lib Dem Housing boss.
Councillor Jim Dickson, Lambeth’s Labour Finance Spokesperson said:
'We are now uncovering the full extent to which Lambeth tenants and leaseholders’ money has been mismanaged by the now departed Lib Dem-Tory administration. The figures show a department left in financial meltdown with repairs and other vital services suffering the consequences of fraud and the reframing fiasco.

Labour has identified these problems straight away and is now putting things right. Labour’s Housing Cabinet Member, John Kazantzis, has made it clear that he will not tolerate financial mismanagement in the housing department.' "



:p :p Obviously, the problems are too deep-rooted to be remedied by Lambeth councillors. Surely it is now time to do what Councillor Lumsden suggested last month, ask the Housing Minister to send in professionals to clear up the mess?

Our own managers are obviously not up to the job, and councillors are not professionals, and can do very little where things have got this bad.


It is interesting - normally they are full of advice on every subject; but on this thread not one of them has yet appeared. [I don't think Oneman is a councillor. He would not get many votes in Lambeth.]
:p :p
 
Ah, the usual "a big boy did it and ran away" excuse from the current administration.
Thing is, we know these occurrences don't develop out of thin air, there has to be an existing culture of poor oversight, bad advice etc, for such overspends to happen.
Will Labour admit that?

Will they bollocks! :)
 
Have we had all the bad news yet?


:rolleyes: :( :rolleyes:

The situation disclosed by officers in the Report that they presented to Cabinet when they asked for £15 million additional funding is by any standards appalling, but it now appears that there may well be much worse to come.

If the administration accepts the Report, and attempts to carry its reccommendations into effect, there is no reason to suppose that it will resolve the situation.

What will happen if the TMOs succeed in their counterclaim against the council for underpayment of allowances over the past six years?

Should the Court find in their favour, not only will Lambeth not make the expected saving of £4.5 million, but they are likely to find themselves paying not only their own costs, but those of the TMOs - perhaps an additional £1.5 - 2 million.

However, there may be worse to come. Last week we heard the news that Holland Town TMO had become insolvent and was being wound up, with allegations of fraud all round.

The situation with URH (which is alleged to have liabilities of some £2 million) has not yet been touched upon.

There are also rumours that some £2 million allocated for maintenance/improvements in Myattsfield North has somehow 'vanished'.

In a situation of such uncertainty and distrust, why have residents not been kept properly informed about what is happening? Can it be that neither officers nor Members know the true position?

How now is it proposed to keep the HRA in balance?

While pursuing the chimera of an ALMO officers and councillors have neglected to keep their eye on the game!

:hmm: :mad:
 
Spin!

sexton said:
The situation disclosed by officers in the Report that they presented to Cabinet when they asked for £15 million additional funding is by any standards appalling, but it now appears that there may well be much worse to come.

If the administration accepts the Report, and attempts to carry its reccommendations into effect, there is no reason to suppose that it will resolve the situation.

What will happen if the TMOs succeed in their counterclaim against the council for underpayment of allowances over the past six years?

Should the Court find in their favour, not only will Lambeth not make the expected saving of £4.5 million, but they are likely to find themselves paying not only their own costs, but those of the TMOs - perhaps an additional £1.5 - 2 million.

However, there may be worse to come. Last week we heard the news that Holland Town TMO had become insolvent and was being wound up, with allegations of fraud all round.

The situation with URH (which is alleged to have liabilities of some £2 million) has not yet been touched upon.

There are also rumours that some £2 million allocated for maintenance/improvements in Myattsfield North has somehow 'vanished'.

In a situation of such uncertainty and distrust, why have residents not been kept properly informed about what is happening? Can it be that neither officers nor Members know the true position?

How now is it proposed to keep the HRA in balance?

While pursuing the chimera of an ALMO officers and councillors have neglected to keep their eye on the game!
Click to expand...




There is no foundation to any of this.

• The dispute regarding allowances only affects a minority of the borough's TMOs and relates to payments in earlier years. The sum involved is comparatively small, and the dispute has nothing to do with the proposed reduction in the allowance that will be paid to all TMOs over the next three years.

• The Council has been aware of the problems in Holland Town for some time, and the TMO's failure is unlikely to have any unforeseen effects on the HRA.

• None of Myattsfield North's funding has 'vanished'. It is all fully accounted for.

• URH have not yet published this years' accounts, but, since all your other 'information' is so wildly inaccurate, there is no reason to suppose that they have incurred the sort of loss suggested.
 
Now you see how dangerous it is to assume any rumour that you hear is correct unless it is supported by verifiable facts and figures.

The ALMO project is an emotive one, and there are a lot of rumours floating about, many of which are ill-informed, if not positively malicious.

Residents need to think carefully before accepting them.

However the Council also needs to try harder to win their trust and give out more information
 
The ALMO project is an emotive one, and there are a lot of rumours floating about, many of which are ill-informed, if not positively malicious.
Click to expand...

As I work for the ALMO nothing I have said is ill-informed or malicious.

The ALMO is in a total mess and there are huge budget cuts taking place as well as the redundancies which not only throw people on to the dole they also mean that services will get even worse.All the while we have consultants running the whole thing on £1000 a day!

The new labour councillors and senior management are not only following a right wing agenda they are also totally incompetent in many cases.
 
Wow Silver Fox knows you know.

We must not forget that there are two ALMOs in Lambeth "Lambeth Living & United Residents Housing"

United Residents Housing are not making jobs cuts although TMO allowances are being cut to make up the overspend which the former Lambeth Housing Directors (Consultants £1000pd) amassed. These directors are now in charge of Lambeth Living.
( God help them) ( Lambeth Living not the directors)

The 4 TMOs which fall under URH ALMO apart from one have not contributed to the overspend inside the housing department as they spend within their means. They are however being made to pay for others missmanagement.

The overspend was not helped by an instruction to stop carrying out repair works to void properties for 8 months due to Lambeth Housing overspending the budget. This is like keeping the shop open but closing the tills.

hundreds of properties left empty no rent collection paying for families to be in temp accom etc.

it does not take a genius to have forseen the problems which this caused. Many of Lambeth staff told managent what would happen if they left properties empty. Did they listen? £18m overspend is the answer.

Lets not forget the new compture system which never worked for 7 months and the repair contractors who fleaced the Housing department. Payments on account (whoever heard of such a thing)

How overspent was the budget set for setting up Lambeth Living ALMO?

The millions of pounds being spent on the ill fated partnering contracts which Lambeth Living will not be able to afford.

Lambeth are right to fill the hole in the finances but they should also have to account for who was responcible for the overspend in the first place. I dont mean a other operation Ruby which spent £3m to see how £3m was nicked!

should I go on?
 
Lambeth Council, Lambeth Housing, Lambeth Living, Lambeth a------es!

Right bloody mess, i'n'it?

Time to vote out the tossers who run it all - and to start asking the other lot what they are going to do about it. Can't get worse.

Nothing will improve unless someone has the guts to tackle the jokers in management.

Has Lumsden got the answer? His lot didn't do much when Fitchett was running thing, but maybe if they call in the Mimistery, it might improve. Got to be worth a punt!



You'll feel better after a day on the river and a couple of pints!
 
Dan U said:
like all that central heating money a while back?
Click to expand...

Actually that didn't really go 'missing'. It was stolen - and instantly the culprit was known (and fairly quickly IIRC tracked down and arrested). I think that the council's now got back most / all of that money.

Still not exactly a great system that allows somebody to so easily get away with defrauding £2m. Where I work it would be difficult to defraud more than a few hundred quid.
 
Bob said:
Actually that didn't really go 'missing'. It was stolen - and instantly the culprit was known (and fairly quickly IIRC tracked down and arrested). I think that the council's now got back most / all of that money.

Still not exactly a great system that allows somebody to so easily get away with defrauding £2m. Where I work it would be difficult to defraud more than a few hundred quid.
Click to expand...

Stolen - Yes
Recovered - Less than half, as I remember it, and in spite of being aware of the fraud, the council allowed the culprit to run with the money. They then spent another million on an investigation. :hmm:
 
Update from today's SLP

http://www.southlondonpress.co.uk/tn/news.cfm?id=27035&headline=Lambeth%20rent-hike%20is%20%27crushing%20blow%27

HARD-UP council tenants face a rent-hike timebomb that will see bills rise by an average of at least £620-per-year because a bungling housing department is in financial crisis.

Labour-run Lambeth plans to increase rents by an average of £12-per-week from April 1 next year in a desperate bid to plug a deficit of up to £15million.

But it could be as much as £15-per-week and comes on top of a seven per cent rise this year.

Details of the proposals have emerged in the council’s draft budget proposals for 2009/2010.

The council also looks set to ramp up tenant service charges for caretaking, estate management, window cleaning and communal lighting by a further five per cent.

Other service charges for TV aerials, concierges, door entry systems and CCTV will be increased by five per cent.

Charges for heating and hot water will be raised by a further five per cent.

This comes on top of a 65 per cent in-year increase for heating and hot water.

It means tenants will pay around £40 a week for service charges in addition to the increased rent from next year.

Lambeth estimates its housing revenue account (HRA) will be overspent by up to £15million by March 2010 and because Government rules dictate HRAs should not be in deficit, it must recoup the money through rent increases and cost cutting.

Every tenant in the borough’s 30,000 council-owned homes will be worse off under the proposals.

Even those who receive full housing benefit – 43 per cent of all tenants – will have to pay for service charge increases.

The 20 per cent who receive partial housing benefit will get some help but will have to find the balance and the hike in service charges from elsewhere.

But those who work in low-paid jobs and do not claim benefits – the remaining 37 per cent of tenants – will be forced to meet all the increases themselves.

“It is pushing people into the benefits trap,” said Lambeth Tenants’ Council chairwoman Rosario Munday.

“It’s going to hurt the poorest hardest.

"The council goes on about worklessness, but its policies are forcing people into the welfare system.”

Opposition Liberal Democrat housing spokesman Councillor Jeremy Clyne said: “These enormous 18 per cent rent increases are the direct result of incompetence and mismanagement under this Labour administration. Lambeth’s Labour leaders have blamed the situation on the former Lib Dem and Tory administration.

Councillor Lib Peck, cabinet member for housing, said: “The Lib Dems ruined the housing budgets while they were in charge – we are showing the leadership to repair the damage already done.

“This rent increase will bring stability and allow us to make homes better, warmer and safer for our residents as well as help us to guarantee £200million of new investment.”
Click to expand...
 
Bob said:
But those who work in low-paid jobs and do not claim benefits – the remaining 37 per cent of tenants – will be forced to meet all the increases themselves.
Click to expand...

That's the bit that makes me so upset.
It is typical. This category of people are always the ones to suffer.

Sold down the river by those with lots of good intentions but absolutely no clue how to run anything, least of all a council.

It is a tragedy that people on low wages in this country are getting taxed. There is absolutely no need for it whatsoever.
The lucky few are made to jump through all sorts of hoops and get their own money back in "tax credits" while also paying for an army of thousands administer the madness.

Technically, you could argue they are already paying the housing benefits of the other tenants from their taxes and there is never any help or ease for them. Why?

There is something wrong with a country that sends a message that getting a job is not worth it unless you're earning 30k a year or more and you're far better off staying at home and getting magic benefits out of the air paid into your bank account.
 
The latest in the story from the Council....

Dear councillor

You may be aware that Asuman Ozkan, Chair of Lambeth Living, was arrested earlier today. The allegations against Ms Ozkan are to do with fraud.

We are not in a position to comment on the details of the case but wanted to let you know that she has been written to today by Lambeth Council asking her to step down as Chair of Lambeth Living. We do not wish to prejudge the case but in light of the arrest we believe that it is not appropriate for her to stay in post. If she does not step down we reserve our right under the management agreement to remove her from the role.

I would also like to make it clear that the issues involved do not relate to her role as Chair of Lambeth Living.

Regards

Derrick Anderson
Chief Executive
 
From the comments under the Standard article:

It is with great regret that the tenants & leaseholders of our proud Borough find that once again we are caught up in such abysmal circumstances.
We have recently held meetings of our Area Housing Forums to discuss the latest proposals of our Labour controlled authority on rent and service charges to be implemented in April 2009.

These proposals consist of a minimum rent rise of £12, plus an accross the board ncrease of 5% on all council service charges. This comes on top of an already implemented mid-term service charge increase of approx.65% designed to plug a gap in it's Housing Revenue account.

As the Chair of a Special Needs Estate, whose residents are all Registered Disabled and on various degrees of benefits, goodness knows where we we will be able to find the revenue to cope, as there are also Tenants who are just outside the areas allowing benefit claims, and will result in more of the Borough's residents being on the breadline.

On Thursday of this week, at a meeting of Tenants Council, the body which represents the people of Lambeth, are to take a vote and pass to the Council their own recommendations, which are to include an already carried vote of 'No Confidence' in the Arms Length Management Board employed by the Council to manage the Housing Stock on their behalf. This vote is to be extended to a further vote of 'No Confidence' in the Labour Administration, and it's top tier of Officers, due to their combined inabilities to manage the housing overall. G.J.N.

- Graham Nicholls Vice Chair Lambeth Tenants Council, Streatham, London
Click to expand...
 
Nothings changed......

Wow......

Lambeth council still as corrupt as ever...

Is Red Ted still in charge?...hehe

Did Keith Fitchett of the Lib Dems ever become a council leader ??

My god tho I still miss the place......

Is the weed supplier behind the 'blue star house' (where u had to swallow a goldfish to prove urself) still going ??


excuse me first post...........:D
 
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