Residents in Barton House have broadly welcomed the move from the city council, but questions remain about how exactly the proposals would work.<\/p>\n
City council housing chiefs have launched a consultation on the changes to the way the HomeChoice system works, and say they want to hear from people across the city on the changes which are minor tweaks to the priority banding system, but which could have major implications for the current residents of Barton House, and any other residents who experience future emergency incidents.<\/p>\n
Barton House residents were made to return to the ageing tower block in the spring of 2024, despite many saying they didn\u2019t feel safe to go back, and had been traumatised by the evacuation and by the months spent in unsuitable temporary accommodation in hotels.<\/p>\n
A report from doctors and psychiatrists<\/a> with medical charity MedAct released earlier this year outlined how the evacuation and treatment of Barton House residents had been a \u2018mass traumatising event\u2019 for many residents<\/a>, who were still suffering from PTSD which was being exacerbated by still living in the same block.<\/p>\n The medical professionals slated council chiefs from the previous administration<\/a> and the current one, for not taking these issues more seriously. At the time of the report launch, back in late February, council chiefs responded by apologising, but said they were tied <\/a>by the HomeChoice system so couldn’t immediately help residents. That action demanded at the time, now appears to be happening.<\/p>\n The two changes to the HomeChoice system would directly address the issues raised by the MedAct report. The first would give additional priority to social housing tenants who have had to leave their homes and stay in emergency accommodation for a prolonged period following an emergency event.<\/p>\n Those tenants would be moved up one band on the four-band HomeChoice system. In general, given the shortage of available homes and the fact there\u2019s 22,000 people registered in one of the four bands on HomeChoice, only people in Band 1 are ever likely to be housed or rehoused.<\/p>\n The second change would see a new middle banding priority given to people who have housing-related health and welfare needs. At present, those with the highest most urgent health needs caused by their housing are put into Band 1, while those with less serious health needs from their housing are in Band 3.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Evacuation of tower block was ‘mass traumatising event’ say experts<\/a>READ MORE: Bristol City Council apologises but no action for traumatised Barton House tower block residents<\/a><\/p>\n The proposal now under consultation would see a new Band 2 category given to people whose health is significantly affected by their current housing.<\/p>\n \u201cThe council takes its duty of care to residents very seriously,\u201d said Cllr Barry Parsons (Green, Easton<\/a>), who is the chair of the Homes and Housing Delivery Committee at City Hall.<\/p>\n \u201cOur priority remains to ensure that the health and wellbeing of all residents living in council housing is supported and that their homes are safe and well maintained. We want to hear the views of people who use the service to help us understand the impacts that these proposed changes could have on them.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to make sure the housing letting process is fair, easy to use and transparent for all who use it, providing housing to those that are in most need. We need to make the best use of our limited housing as we cannot currently meet the needs of everyone on the register,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Not just Barton House<\/p>\n The changes will affect anyone in social or affordable housing, be they council tenants or housing association tenants, and not just those at Barton House. Over the past few years there have been a number of cases of traumatic emergency evacuations for residents, as well as at Barton House, most notably the 2022 fatal fire at Twinnell House which saw neighbours evacuated and ended up with a situation where one resident barricaded herself into a room in a Travelodge rather than be made to go back<\/a> to her flat opposite the scene of the tragedy.<\/p>\n And in 2019, residents of a block of flats in Whitchurch Lane in Hartcliffe<\/a> had to be evacuated after two explosions destroyed much of the building – residents there had issues with the way the council prioritised<\/a> their temporary and permanent rehousing.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Family still homeless a month after Hartcliffe explosion<\/a>READ MORE: Mum locks herself in Travelodge as she and son cannot face returning to scene of tower block blaze<\/a><\/p>\n At Barton House, residents broadly welcomed the change, as a successful outcome from their 18 months of campaigning by the residents and members of tenants union ACORN on the issue.<\/p>\n One resident of the tower block, mum of three Nosa, said: \u201cI\u2019m going to cry! It\u2019s a good thing, finally,\u201d when told of the news.<\/p>\n ACORN member and Barton House mum Sada added: “It’s great news. So many of us have been having panic attacks. Every night I’m up worried asking what if there’s a fire, what if the fire brigade come again. But with this news I’m happy.\u201d<\/p>\n The ACORN representative at Barton House, Fadumo Farah, urged people across the city to get involved in the consultation and back the changes – not just for Barton House residents, but for anyone in the future affected by sudden traumatising evacuations.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s a great win for residents, and it happened because of the hard work we put in as ACORN members,\u201d Fadumo said.<\/p>\n \u201cI encourage everyone to fill out this consultation, a lot of people are relying on the outcome of the consultation and we want to make sure that the Barton House residents, especially those who have children with special needs and learning difficulties, are rehoused. We\u2019ve been fighting hard to get here, and now we\u2019re here, what you can do to help is support us by completing the consultation, and encouraging your family and friends to do it as well,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n There are still some questions which need to be ironed out about the changes, ACORN organiser Sam Kidel said – mainly around whether someone lifted up to Band 2 under the new medical requirement could also be lifted up another banding by a sudden evacuation too.<\/p>\n But he said the new policy, if adopted, could be \u2018life-changing\u2019 for some families. \u201cACORN members in Barton House have fought since the day of the evacuation for fair treatment,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s been a long battle but this is significant news for Barton House residents and their kids who’ve been through hell.<\/p>\n \u201cBut it’s also big news for anyone who’s been struggling with bad health on the housing waiting list. If this change goes ahead, many Bristolians will be rehoused quicker who desperately need it. This will be life-changing for many families, and is a great result for everyone who’s been involved in the ACORN Justice for Barton House campaign. We’re all celebrating with the residents today,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The change will prioritise any tenant across Bristol who suffers a traumatic evacuation Council housing tenants who are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145090,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[10295,381,3893,748,9999,393,4884,14344,6334,16,15,10000],"class_list":{"0":"post-145089","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-barton-hill","9":"tag-bristol","10":"tag-bristol-city-council","11":"tag-britain","12":"tag-easton","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-hartcliffe","16":"tag-housing-crisis","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-whitchurch"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114598859512979471","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_BRI_PG_260225barton_house-55.jpg\")
Barton House residents meeting at St Annes Board Mills Social Club, Wednesday 26 February 2025 where they discuss a report into the handling of the Barton House evacuation(Image: PAUL GILLIS \/ Reach PLC)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_TCR_BRI130224BartonHouseBRI_03jpeg.jpg\")
(Image: Paul Gillis\/Bristol Live)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1748639716_112_1_BR_PG_260124barton_house-141.jpg\")
(Image: PAUL GILLIS \/ Reach PLC)<\/p>\n