Let’s Love Custom House NOW!

Homes in Custom House were left to fall into disrepair for nearly 30 years due to neglect by property managers Mears and Newham Council. Following a 4-year campaign (Tando Tigers & Mears Cats), PEACH Members not only succeeded in breaking the council’s contract with Mears, but wrote off £350,000 of rent arrears and secured rent reductions of 60% for tenants. The property neglect by Mears forced residents to live in dangerous, unhealthy living conditions. Residents have faced major water leaks lasting years, severe mould, tap water running brown, dangerous and collapsing structures (including ceilings, walls and chimneys), broken flooring, cabinets and front doors, rotting single-glazed windows and dangerous electrical faults and power failures. With the Council focussed on regeneration of the area, it was unclear as to what steps the council would take to ensure that homes are fit and healthy to live in today. PEACH members believe all residents should have good quality, healthy homes NOW, not in many years to come, so they came together and demanded a quality repairs and refurbishment programme:

“We, the residents, would like to see a programme that delivers a higher standard of living. Homes should be safe and affordable. There should be well maintained spaces for everyone including the elderly and the young. We deserve a clean, dignified and happy living environment.”

In October 2021, PEACH members put together a petition, signed by 90% of residents across the organised blocks, and delivered this to the Council, which demanded the following:

“To guarantee quality standards in the refurbishment process, tenants would like to work alongside London Borough of Newham in the design, procurement and delivery process as PEACH members. This will enable us to exercise meaningful choices about our homes and shape the whole experience of the refurbishment process. We would like involvement in the following:

1. Urgent Repairs/Maintenance: All urgent issues addressed within 3 months, not waiting for the refurbishment  
2. Our say: Chance to tell you what we need included in this refurb
3. Communication: Regular meetings every 2 months with us throughout the refurb 
4. Proper job guarantee: Involve us in quality control, choosing materials/contractors etc 
5. Share information: clear timelines so we know what is happening when
6. Well planned: Each resident to receive a personalised ‘refurb plan’ before works start, which makes the works go smoothly”     

Following this action, Newham Council agreed to invest in a repairs and refurbishment programme to make improvements to resident’s homes in the regeneration areas of Custom House and Canning Town and to meaningfully work with PEACH as outlined above. The council have promised that the refurbishment will provide Decent Homes Plus standard accommodation with a 30 year life. These improvements include new ventilation, windows, insulation, bathrooms, kitchens, flooring and electrical rewiring. In addition to refurbishments, PEACH members are holding Newham Council to account to carry out urgent repairs to homes that are a threat to life and limb.

Since November 2021, representatives from each organised block have been meeting every two months with Newham Council Officers: Darren Levy (Director of Housing), Jon Hillier (Head of Housing Property Services) and Donna Morelli (Assistant Director of Housing Services), to ensure the repairs and refurbishments programme is carried out in line with the commitments that have been made. In addition to these meetings, Block Representatives have been meeting fortnightly with Council Officers from Housing Property Services, to maintain up-to-date on urgent repairs and raise any further issues. During these meetings Block Representatives have raised numerous issues including:

• poor quality of work by contractors 
• inconsistent use of materials and ‘corner cutting’
• substandard materials or lack of detail in the refurbishment specifications 
• overgrown trees causing damage to homes and lack of safety on the streets 
• poor management of rubbish removal 
• poor communication
• unsafe practices when testing for asbestos

The process hasn’t been easy and has required a huge amount of energy and organising from PEACH members to ensure the Council stay on track and deliver on their commitments. There have been numerous instances where PEACH members have been treated inappropriately, from tearing up flooring and not replacing it, to leaving a family with no kitchen for a month, living off takeaways with no compensation, to severe black mould returning a month after refurbishment. But PEACH members have not given up!

To keep the pressure on the council and to demonstrate PEACH’s block power in January 2022, PEACH members across four organised blocks put up posters in their windows. These posters identify residents as PEACH members and show the repair & refurbishment workers that residents are collectively watching out for repairs and will take action, if these aren’t done to a standard that we expect.

Working collaboratively with the Council, while maintaining the pressure through our block organising strategy, has resulted in a number of wins! These include:

• 75 urgent repairs have been reported to the Council’s repairs taskforce and their progress monitored on a weekly basis by Block Representatives
• Some blocks have had almost all of their urgent repairs completed.
• Many of the homes have received new double glazed windows.
• Hazardous trees and greenery have been cut for the first time in decades.
• The Council has agreed to make changes to their refurbishment specification to use better quality, healthier materials such as natural insulation materials, ventilation systems in both the kitchen and bathrooms and using natural breathable paint. They are going to test out these materials on one of their void properties, to compare with their specified materials and see the difference.  

In late June we hired a new member of the PEACH staff team as our Block Representatives Organiser, Mimi Newton. Mimi has been acting as a Block Representative of her block now for over a year and has already contributed lots of time and energy to organising with her neighbours. In her new role, Mimi is responsible for supporting the team of Block Representatives to maintain up-to-date with progress on repairs and refurbishments on their respective blocks, to identify core issues their neighbours are facing and to continue to build power and maintain a high level of resident participation in their respective blocks.

Our high rates of participation – over 90% of residents signing the petition in each block – means we have the power to demand what PEACH members & Custom House residents deserve: healthy homes!