Post by winston on Feb 8, 2012 14:05:16 GMT 1
Greenock Telegraph - Tuesday 7th Gebruary 2012
High rise residents have criticised services run by their housing association landlords.
Tenants made their feelings known in a survey carried our by local Councillor Alan Bliar, who distributed questionnaires at high flats in Greenock, asking people to rate the performance of River Clyde Homes. The results showed 80% of those who replied would not vote in favour of housing stock transfer if they were to be asked now. Whinhill, Prospecthill and Royal Courts were among the blocks surveyed, with almost 100 residents replying.
They highlighted concerns about a number of areas including repairs, rent levels and allocations policy. Over 90% called for an overhaul of the allocations policy whilst 75% said rent levels represented ‘poor value’. Lib Dem leader Mr Blair now wants the housing association to tackle the results of the survey. Councillor Blair said “surveys of this kind are bound to be imperfect but the generally negative tone of responses gives cause for serious concern. “One important concern is that a large majority of residents say they would not support stock transfer if they were voting at the present time. “However fair or unfair their assessment might be this represents a vote of ‘no confidence’ and RCH will require up their game if this is to change.”
Mr Blair told the Tele he hopes that management will ‘react positively’ to tenants’ concerns. But he added, “much more serious joint working with the Council needs to develop and the board should try to be more open about what they are doing and why. Consideration should also be given to combining our local housing associations into a single body to administer social housing locally.”
River Clyde Homes responded to Mr Blair’s remarks and the results of his survey. A spokesman sad “We always welcome feedback from our tenants. Before undertaking this limited survey it would have been beneficial to them to have contacted River Clyde Homes. We would have been able to tell them that almost all the issues raised are being addressed in collaboration with both the Broomhill tenants and the wider community.”
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I see what the tenants are trying to achieve by doing this. However, getting in tow with Allan Blair will do them no favours whatsoever and his complete lack of understanding of the issue is evident in his comments that;
"the board should try to be more open about what they are doing and why."
and
"Consideration should also be given to combining our local housing associations into a single body"
Mr Blair is a former member of the Board and currently his Lib Dem colleague Tom Fyfe is on the Board. So, Yes Mr Blair what exactly is it that you and your colleague were/are doing on the Board? What are you supporting, blocking, proposing and why?
And as for combining the housing associations. FFS, the fact that RCH are to big forms a huge part of the problem that these tenants are complaining about? So his solution is to make them bigger. What a complete idiot.
Surely a better proposal would be to divvy up RCHs houses between the 3 housing associations who already operate perfectly well in the area and perhaps create a 4th specialist housing association to cater for elderly and disabled tenants.
I sympathise with the tenants who have to endure RCH, but siding with this idiot will get them nowhere.
High rise residents have criticised services run by their housing association landlords.
Tenants made their feelings known in a survey carried our by local Councillor Alan Bliar, who distributed questionnaires at high flats in Greenock, asking people to rate the performance of River Clyde Homes. The results showed 80% of those who replied would not vote in favour of housing stock transfer if they were to be asked now. Whinhill, Prospecthill and Royal Courts were among the blocks surveyed, with almost 100 residents replying.
They highlighted concerns about a number of areas including repairs, rent levels and allocations policy. Over 90% called for an overhaul of the allocations policy whilst 75% said rent levels represented ‘poor value’. Lib Dem leader Mr Blair now wants the housing association to tackle the results of the survey. Councillor Blair said “surveys of this kind are bound to be imperfect but the generally negative tone of responses gives cause for serious concern. “One important concern is that a large majority of residents say they would not support stock transfer if they were voting at the present time. “However fair or unfair their assessment might be this represents a vote of ‘no confidence’ and RCH will require up their game if this is to change.”
Mr Blair told the Tele he hopes that management will ‘react positively’ to tenants’ concerns. But he added, “much more serious joint working with the Council needs to develop and the board should try to be more open about what they are doing and why. Consideration should also be given to combining our local housing associations into a single body to administer social housing locally.”
River Clyde Homes responded to Mr Blair’s remarks and the results of his survey. A spokesman sad “We always welcome feedback from our tenants. Before undertaking this limited survey it would have been beneficial to them to have contacted River Clyde Homes. We would have been able to tell them that almost all the issues raised are being addressed in collaboration with both the Broomhill tenants and the wider community.”
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I see what the tenants are trying to achieve by doing this. However, getting in tow with Allan Blair will do them no favours whatsoever and his complete lack of understanding of the issue is evident in his comments that;
"the board should try to be more open about what they are doing and why."
and
"Consideration should also be given to combining our local housing associations into a single body"
Mr Blair is a former member of the Board and currently his Lib Dem colleague Tom Fyfe is on the Board. So, Yes Mr Blair what exactly is it that you and your colleague were/are doing on the Board? What are you supporting, blocking, proposing and why?
And as for combining the housing associations. FFS, the fact that RCH are to big forms a huge part of the problem that these tenants are complaining about? So his solution is to make them bigger. What a complete idiot.
Surely a better proposal would be to divvy up RCHs houses between the 3 housing associations who already operate perfectly well in the area and perhaps create a 4th specialist housing association to cater for elderly and disabled tenants.
I sympathise with the tenants who have to endure RCH, but siding with this idiot will get them nowhere.
