Residents and union enter premises demanding meeting over rent hikes – but company accuses protestors of trying to ‘harass and intimidate’ staff
Welsh Streets residents and Acorn union members gained access to the Placefirst head office in Salford to protest about rent increases
A row between residents of Liverpool’s famous Welsh Streets and their landlord company has intensified after a group gained access to the company’s headquarters.
The ECHO has been highlighting the plight of those living in the Welsh Streets, the famous Toxteth area where Beatle Ringo Starr grew up. Those living there have reported on sudden large rent increases that many say will force them to move out.
Placefirst, the company that regenerated and now owns and rents out the houses in the area has said it is listening to the concerns of those living in the Welsh Streets but the residents feel they are not being heard.
That feeling led some of the residents – who are represented by the Acorn union – to take direct action at the end of last week, heading to Placefirst’s head office in Salford to protest against the rent increases.
The residents, along with ACORN representatives, gained access to the office in what they said was an attempt to try and arrange a sit down with the chief executive of Placefirst, David Mawson.
In response, the company said it was ‘shocked and disappointed’ that the group gained unauthorised access to its offices on Friday, with a view to ‘harass and intimidate our staff.” The company said its staff members were advised by building security to leave the premises.
Welsh Streets residents and Acorn union members gained access to the Placefirst head office in Salford to protest about rent increases
Welsh Streets residents said they were particularly enraged that news that Placefirst would be introducing a 10% rent cap for their homes only became apparent to them in a previous article in the Liverpool ECHO. The union also claimed that repeated requests for a meeting between residents and union officials and company bosses had been turned down.
Tenant Lee Brady said: “Far from being transparent with us, most of us only found out about this new ‘policy’ in the ECHO. Our rents are already well above the market rate for the area and 10% increases will only make that worse. Placefirst have already admitted we haven’t been receiving the quality of services they claim justify our high rents, so they cannot justify this.”
Martin Mawdsley, ACORN’s Liverpool branch secretary said: “Placefirst need to recognise the severity of the situation they’ve created. They’ve repeatedly denied their tenants’ requests to have an ACORN representative present at the meetings and refuse to address any of their collective demands. We’ve reiterated our willingness for an open meeting with Placefirst and the tenant leaders to speak to get this resolved.”
In its response to Friday’s action at its head office, a spokesperson for Placefirst said: “We understand that emotions regarding rental increases at Welsh Streets are heightened; however, we have an ongoing and constructive dialogue with the affected residents to discuss their concerns, including one-to-one face-to-face meetings, and we have also provided written responses to ACORN Liverpool’s own enquiries on this issue.
“Having listened carefully, we have also instituted a new policy for rental increases above 10% and are continuing to work towards a positive resolution. This is not a rent cap, but allows for the small number of households that required an adjustment above 10% to phase this in over a longer period.
“This was communicated in person to relevant households who agreed to discuss their issues with us, and all affected households were ultimately informed via email over the following week. The majority of increases do not meet this threshold but are in line with the Office for National Statistics’ recorded average increase in the North West of 9%.”
The statement added: “Placefirst is a private rental home provider, not a housing association nor a provider of homes legally classed as ‘affordable’ – comparing our homes to homes of different tenures in the area is not a fair comparison.
The Welsh Streets in Toxteth (Image: Liverpool echo)
“We provide homes and services of a higher standard, and have higher business costs, which is the reason for our rental increases. As a professional landlord, we undertake a large number of maintenance tasks across our community of nearly 300 homes at Welsh Streets, and have completed 83% of this year’s requests while we work swiftly to resolve the rest. We strongly encourage our residents to come forward with maintenance issues as soon as they arise, for which our app and portal are open 24/7.
“Deposits are legally protected by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, which can escalate disagreements to an independent third-party adjudicator should any resident raise concerns. The system carefully controls what we can charge, and we always strive to be fair when assessing the state of properties against inventory checklists when residents move in.
“To ensure conversations with our residents were constructive, we have not engaged in public group discussions with ACORN, a position we feel is vindicated by the group’s recent behaviour. We have however offered a private meeting which will take place this week. We also look forward to a productive meeting with Kim Johnson MP in the coming weeks.”