The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Emails on homes deal
A Freedom of Information request by the Peterborough Telegraph has revealed some correspondence over the controversial arrangement to evict families and replace them with homeless people. And more emails are still to come. Reporter Joel Lamy has the detai
A Freedom Of Information request by the Peterborough Telegraph has revealed new details about the controversial deal between the city council and a property company which has seen families evicted to make way for homeless people.
Atranche of emails have shone a light on the deal to move homeless people into St Michael’s Gate in Parnwell where the tenants are being forced to leave their homes.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the Peterborough Telegraph has revealed correspondence between representatives of Peterborough City Council and housing firm Stef & Philips over the deal to use 74 properties on the estate as temporary accommodation.
The council will pay Stef & Philips nearly £1 million a year over the next three years to use the properties to tackle its homelessness crisis.
The number of properties at the estate will also be renovated to increase from 74 to 98.
The emails show an approach to Sean Evans, the council’s housing needs manager, from an unnamed person at Stef & Philips onMay18.
The email says: “I would like to come and see you or write to you providing details of the exceptional work we do at Stef & Philips for the Social Housing sector.
“Above is a development of 72 family size accommodation units. Just wondering if this would be of interest to you?”
Included in the emails were the nightly rates to use each home as temporary accommodation, starting at £22.50 per night for a two-bed flat.
A May 19 email from Stef & Philips reads: “We never go into any geographical patch to buy few properties. We would aim to buy and/or build enough to satisfy the needs. Hence, PE1 4YJ could be the first of many.”
PE1 4YJ is the postcode for St Michael’s Gate.
A council spokeswoman said: “Stef & Philips has advised us that they are actively seeking properties in a number of areas within an hour of London. We are not currently aware of any further properties or sites in Peter borough at this time.”
Another email from Stef & Philips says they will be ex- changing the contracts for the St Michael’s Gate properties on June 17 before providing “a schedule off lats that you could occupy for the end of June.”
On June 9, an email from Belinda Child, the council’s head of housing and health improvement, to Mr Evans, says the council should “keep moving forward” with Stef & Philips.
Sheadds:“Are they intending to serve notice on the existing tenants?”
Mr Evans writes back: “When we met them they led us to believe that they would be acquiring it with vacant possession, but that is clearly not the case with it happening so quickly. I think there’ll be a bit of work with them regarding obtaining possession of the units we require.”
An email on July 21 sees Mr Evans write to Stef & Philips, saying he had been advised four properties would be ready to let at the end of the week. He asks: “Are you in a position to let those yet?”
Asked if the council had been misled by Stef & Philips, the spokeswoman said: “We do not believe we were misled. With a project such as this it is quite common for dates to change and formatters to take longer than first intended.”
It was put to the council that the emails did not suggest that if it did not rent the properties, a London borough would move its homeless people in instead. This has been the council’s argument since the Peterborough Telegraph first revealed the deal with Stef & Philips in September.
The council spokeswoman said: “We strongly believe that if we did not use these properties then another council would. We have seen this happen in other parts of the country.
“Stef and Philips has told us that if we choose not to enter into a contract, the properties will be offered to another local authority. This has also been confirmed in writing by the landlord.”
The spokeswoman’s response also included written statements she said Stef & Philips had given to the council. One stated: “The councillors should be in no doubt that St Michael’s Gate will betaken up by any one of the London councils.”