Tenants express concern over sale of flats in Leeds
LEEDS JEWISH Housing Association has moved to assure residents they will not be left homeless after announcing it is to sell one of its blocks of flats.
In December, LJHA decided to sell the High Moor Close property, near the city’s Moortown and Shadwell areas, after a three-month consultation with tenants.
LJHA is liaising with agents before putting the 40-unit block on the market.
The association says High Moor Close, built in 1974, is its least-subscribed building.
It has no elevator access to the upper flats and a “steep slope” leading to the property makes it “isolated and difficult to get to without a car”.
Interim CEO Craig Simons claimed LJHA is required to develop new properties to avoid the risk of a forced merger by its regulator, the Homes Community Agency.
According to a letter circulated to residents: “LJHA does not have sufficient income or reserves to develop new homes on a regular basis without the sale of some of our existing stock.
“If LJHA is not seen as a developing housing association, it is potentially vulnerable to the threat of forced merger with other housing associations by our regulator. This could result in the stock being transferred to another faith-based or non-faith based housing association which is not likely to have a Jewish ethos.”
The association wanted “to continue to provide homes that are needed for the Jewish community in Leeds. As our community demographics change, we need to ensure this reflects the types of homes that are available and that we meet community needs into the future.”
The sale would be as a tenanted site, not as an empty site for development. This means a new landlord would not be able to tear the building down and existing tenancy agreements would be honoured.
LJHA could not, however, guarantee a new landlord keeping rents at their current level.
The association has also offered High Moor Close residents the option of moving into another of its properties and it has closed its waiting list to prioritise these applicants. It usually anticipates about 40 units becoming available annually.
Mr Simons said LJHA would offer tenants a grant to assist with the cost of moving, adding that it works with “a number of agencies” to assist in the relocation process.
Despite these assurances, some of those affected are voicing concern.
Irvine Gilbert, 80, recently suffered a stroke and underwent kidney surgery. He said his reduced mobility made him reluctant to move away from his neighbours, on whom he relies for support.
“Since my wife died, it’s harder to get around. I’ve been here 17 years and I have nice neighbours. How do I know who I will be living with if I move?
“I’m near my doctors, I’m near my chemist, I’m near the shops. This is just convenient for me.”
Samantha Marks, 62, told the JC that, as a transgender woman, she worried about the possibility of encountering discrimination in the private rental sector.
“I am also concerned that more of the social housing stock will be sold to the private sector at a time of shortage of social housing. The shortage in Leeds isn’t as bad as in London but it’s bad.”
JEWISH CARE has led the tributes to colourful East-Ender Millie Finger following her death a week after her 101st birthday.
Mrs Finger was a regular at the charity’s Brenner Centre at Stepney Community Centre.
Earlier this year, she featured in a Channel 4 promotional campaign marking the centenary of women being granted the vote, introducing programmes with recollections from her younger days.
She recently told the JC of her memories of living in the East End in the 1930s at the time of Oswald Mosley’s fascists.
“Sometimes we couldn’t walk down the street without someone shouting at us. They used to say ‘go back to your own country’.”
Jamie Field, Jewish Care’s East London locality manager, said: “Millie really endeared herself to everyone she met but particularly those of us who were lucky enough to spend every day with her.
“She didn’t have an easy life but you wouldn’t know it speaking to her. She loved being at the centre and everyone genuinely loved her. She will be sorely missed by all of us — but none more so than Beattie [Orwell]. Beattie and Millie were childhood friends who were reunited at the centre and were inseparable ever since.”
At the funeral, at Marlow Road Cemetery in East Ham, Sandra Valentine Boyd spoke of how much her aunt had enjoyed attending the Stepney centre.
“Millie’s days were spent gossiping, making plans and putting the world to rights. Her evenings were spent planning her outfits for the following day. She would often call me, saying ‘will the pink sweater go with the grey trousers or did I wear that a few days ago?’ Because, of course, she couldn’t wear the same outfit twice in one week.”
How do I know who I will be living with if I move’