Tenants claim housing group owes them rebate of £21,000
RESIDENTS claim their social landlord owes them a rebate of £21,000 after charging them for work during lockdown that was not carried out.
Castlemilk tenants of housing association Home Group will hold a demonstration in the hope bosses will enter an in-person negotiation.
They claim they have been left to pay for maintenance out of their own pockets on top of paying service fees.
And today they say ‘enough is enough’ and are demanding a response from Home Group.
The landlord, however, said a walk round of the estate had been carried out and a meeting to discuss issues is to be held on May 5.
A spokesperson for Home
Group said grounds maintenance was stopped due to government guidelines during lockdown. Tenants, who all asked to be known by their first names, explained their frustrations with the service.
Joan said: “During the time that we weren’t receiving the services that we were paying for, my daughter and her neighbour had to pay £850 to have the hedges outside the house taken away. It had grown to the point where I could not get out of the house in my wheelchair, and my daughter and neighbour were struggling to get into the house.”
Her neighbour Marie added: “The million-pound landscaping job that was done when our development was built has just been left to become an overgrown mess.”
It is claimed that during the pandemic, Home Group took more than £21,000 from their Castlemilk tenants while not carrying out contracted services. Now they have joined Living Rent, Scotland’s tenants’ union, to band together and ask for a rebate. A number of tenants said they have been left having to pay for maintenance out of their own pocket on top of paying their charge.
Castlemilk Living Rent members who are Home Group tenants have taken to the doorstep in their community, speaking with as many neighbours as possible to gather support.
Today, they plan to demonstrate that the neighbourhood is united in demanding a rebate, a negotiation on the level of service charges, the replacement of wooden fencing they say has rotted, and the clearing of fly-tipping hotspots.
In January, the group organised a neighbourhood meeting at local community centre The Birgidale Complex, where union members and neighbours alike voted unanimously on the demands that are being sent to Home Group.
Castlemilk tenant Lyndsay said: “I spent a good £200 on making my garden look nice.
“I had planned to put fence panels in, but the ranch fencing is so rotten I couldn’t attach the fence panels to it.”
And Philip added: “The lack of maintenance left undergrowth outside my house becoming so dense it was beginning to penetrate my walls.”
Karen Wolstencroft, head of Service Delivery in Scotland for Home Group, said: “We had an estate walk around with customers in late March to discuss the issues like fencing and fly-tipping. We also talked about service charges.
“We went away and promised to come up with a plan of action to resolve the issues raised and to go through that plan with customers at a community meeting, which customers seemed pleased with.
“That meeting is due to take place Thursday coming.
“Immediately after our walk around we actioned the repairs, and issues like fly-tipping, to ensure they are carried out as quickly as possible.
“The fly-tipping has been removed and options regarding fencing will be discussed on Thursday. In relation to the grounds maintenance, works were carried out as per usual throughout the pandemic, except for the period when Government guidelines did not allow us to do so.”