{"id":21677,"date":"2025-04-15T09:58:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T09:58:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/21677\/"},"modified":"2025-04-15T09:58:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T09:58:15","slug":"mouldy-housing-estate-leaves-dozens-of-tenants-with-health-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/21677\/","title":{"rendered":"Mouldy housing estate leaves dozens of tenants with health issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Residents formed the Nags Head Tenants Association in 2020 and have arranged protests at Peabody\u2019s London headquarters, supported by Disability Rights UK<\/a> and Medact.<\/p>\n

However, the new Medact report suggests little has changed, with 73% of residents saying issues remain unresolved.<\/p>\n

It found \u201csystemic failures\u201d leading to \u201cwholly preventable\u201d health conditions<\/a> in both adult and child residents.<\/p>\n

Calum Barnes, Medact campaigner and former NHS health worker said: \u201cOur health doesn\u2019t begin in hospitals or clinics \u2013 it begins in our homes. This report shows alarmingly high rates of ill health of tenants. This is not an issue isolated to this estate but a systemic one.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe policies of the last decades have created a situation where housing providers can operate with less regulation, less funding and fewer obligations to tenants. This has resulted in worse health outcomes. Our health is driven by these political choices, but just as these decisions were made, they can be unmade. We must urgently reclaim our homes for our health.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than half of households surveyed (58%) reported that someone in the home had developed a respiratory condition since moving to Nags Head, believed to be related to mould and damp.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, 67% of disabled tenants say their condition has worsened as a result of poor housing.<\/a><\/p>\n

A resident and representative of the tenants\u2019 association said: \u201cThe very housing association entrusted with our wellbeing has instead abandoned us to live in unliveable conditions. Our homes are plagued by mould and damp. Homes are poorly insulated, making winters unbearable.<\/p>\n

\u201cBin areas are not fit for purpose, and common spaces are left in a state of disrepair. Peabody\u2019s idea of \u2018maintenance\u2019 is either a quick, unskilled patch-up or outright ignoring our concerns. What adds insult to injury is the lack of respect and collaboration. When we raise complaints, we are dismissed, gaslit or sent in circles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peabody<\/a> is a non-profit claiming \u201cto create affordable homes and inclusive communities where people can flourish\u201d, and it offers a combination of market rent homes, social housing and key worker accommodation.<\/p>\n

The tenants say their campaign has led to improvements, with twice-weekly visits from a Peabody repairs team and independent surveys of affected homes. However, they claim Peabody has failed to commit to broader structural work, including immediate repairs and quality insulation.<\/a><\/p>\n

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The tenants are urging Peabody to implement a comprehensive retrofitting programme to ensure safe and warm homes. They want to see prompt repairs and better estate management \u2013 including pest control and regular upkeep of gutters, drains and communal spaces.<\/p>\n

Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n

They are also calling on Peabody to support disabled residents, giving access to occupational therapy, council needs assessments, adaptations to the estate where needed, and disability training for staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis neglect has real consequences,\u201d the resident added. \u201cOur health is deteriorating \u2013 residents, including children and the elderly, suffer from respiratory issues due to mould. The stress and trauma of living in such conditions takes a psychological and emotional toll. It feels like we are fighting a system designed to silence and marginalise us rather than support us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tracy Packer, Peabody\u2019s managing director for North East London, said Medact\u2019s report is \u201cimportant\u201d and \u201creflects survey responses from around a quarter of homes on the estate\u201d. <\/p>\n

Peabody has invested more than \u00a31m on improvements here, and Packer has committed to designing a \u00a33m plan with residents which she hopes \u201cwill make a positive difference\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m working closely with the tenants\u2019 association, and I want to hear from all Nags Head residents to help us shape this investment and agree where the improvements will be made,\u201d Packer adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, it will take time to resolve all the issues. Overcrowding will continue to be a huge problem and is a major part of London\u2019s housing emergency as there simply aren\u2019t enough family sized homes. With an average weekly rent of \u00a3137 and rapidly rising costs, our social rented homes cost far more to run than the rent can cover. <\/p>\n

Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n

\u201cThis makes it an exceptionally challenging situation. But we are doing our best and are determined to improve. We\u2019re listening and doing all we can to work with residents and invest as much as we can in looking after their homes and providing good services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Resident Kevin Biderman said the tenants \u201cremain concerned about the adequacy and transparency of the plan\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cGiven the long-term neglect and ongoing problems, the lack of a clear budget, timescale or agreed consultation plan does not provide us with confidence. Whilst we welcome the hiring of a project manager for the retrofit and our proposed involvement in the recruitment, we remain concerned about problems such as poor communication, poor quality works and a lack of meaningful negotiation with tenants,\u201d Biderman said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to call for transparency and a genuine collaboration between tenants and Peabody to ensure a proper co-production of the retrofit. However, we need to see tangible commitments from Peabody before we can put our trust in this process. We hope these are forthcoming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this?\u00a0Get in touch and tell us more<\/a>.\u00a0Big Issue exists to give homeless and marginalised people the opportunity to earn an income.\u00a0To support our work buy a copy of the magazine<\/a>\u00a0or get the app from the\u00a0App Store<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Google Play<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Residents formed the Nags Head Tenants Association in 2020 and have arranged protests at Peabody\u2019s London headquarters, supported…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21678,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[13217,748,13974,393,4884,105,13975,6333,257,13976,12,13977,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-21677","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-activism","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-damp-and-mould","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-health","14":"tag-health-and-wellbeing","15":"tag-housing","16":"tag-london","17":"tag-mould","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-social-housing","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114341393448225767","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21677","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=21677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}