A community representative said that people with social problems had been moved into council flats and ended up terrorising their neighbours.
Coldean Independents tenants’ group representative Heather Hayes spoke out at a Brighton and Hove City Council housing panel during discussions about proposed changes to council housing allocations.
She said that the council had let two flats in a road in Coldean to people with turbulent histories.
One of the troublesome tenants moved out after burning the flat down but the other was still living in the flat and terrorising their neighbour, she added.
Mrs Hayes said that the council’s housing team did not always appear to have been informed of their history.
She spoke about a nightmare neighbour who moved in two years ago, saying: “He’s caused absolute mayhem. The people who live above him, both have had breakdowns.”
Mrs Hayes said that she hoped the council would change its policy because everyone from the Coldean Residents’ Association to the police and the vicar had taken up the affected couple’s case.
She said: “The council has put a second one in, the same as the first one who set fire to the property.
“Here you go again on the same road where we have a lot of elderly vulnerable people – people in their eighties and nineties.
“The council needs evidence to do something but people are frightened to speak up therefore the council doesn’t have the evidence.”
The council’s head of tenancy services Justine Harris offered to speak with Mrs Hayes outside the meeting.
Labour councillor Tobias Sheard, who represents Coldean and Stanmer ward, said that the council was aware of the situation.
In December, the Local Democracy Reporting Service spoke with Lee Durrant, a victim of anti-social behaviour, and his girlfriend Mary about their experience.
They were threatened with violence if they went to the authorities and felt broken because, they said, Brighton and Hove City Council had not taken action.
Mr Durrant, who grew up in Coldean and has lived in his flat for 19 years, said that he was advised by housing officials more than once to consider moving home.
His new neighbour told him that he had served time in prison for a violent crime – which he had.
Since speaking about the neighbour issues Mr Durrant and his partner have suffered mental breakdowns and despite communicating with various agencies including the council and their MP, Caroline Lucas, no solution has been found.
bring back the asylums
That doesn’t even make sense, lol.
For who??? The council muppets maybe ?? Or the social workers ?? Apart from the obvious idiot who gets away with his public mayhem the council and the housing offices are not obliged to house people who cause repetetive anti social problems when they live in allocated social/council housing, they cause the problem they can and should be kept out of said housing,, it’s legal and effective.
As I understand it, BHCC’s policy is now to allocate ALL one bedroom flats to those who are most in need. Initially I was unsure about this policy as it has a direct effect upon where I live. However, with a little compassion and understanding; none of us know what will happen in the future, there have been no issues and I sometimes help them out with things to enable them to cope with life.
I agree about being supportive, alongside the decisiveness to challenge antisocial behaviours, and follow through to an eviction if behaviours don’t improve. Social housing should be a privilege earnt, and a privilege that can be lost.
The issue is that there is a lack of council housing and the council has a duty to house those most in need. There is also a chronic lack of funding to councils to pay for officers.
So what can the council do. They get these vulnerable people with mental health and substance misuse problems. Who they have a duty to house. They house them next to people who bought their council houses in the 70s or inherited them 20 years ago on favourable tenancies. The Tories have cut funding to councils, mental health services, drug rehabilitation service, the police. Yet somehow it is framed as the councils fault. I ask you what would you have them do, within the regulations set by the government.
“duty to house them” is not a legal requirement on a never ending basis, as well as being “entitled” to housing they also have to comply with housing laws, regulations and any other issues that require “them” to participate in their own living situation, including medication, rehab outpatient, probation with conditions, going on never ending benders and blaming everyone else is not what other residents should tolerate, unless they do it quietly. I have neighbours with “issues” and I speak with them about it, noise fx, but I do it quietly and also explain to them that the rest of live here too, usually works but some should just not be living around other people, different people different problems, but NOT everyone else” problem.
It’s a delicate balance.
I don’t disagree that the housing they are put in isn’t ideal, there should be a lot more treatment centres until people are actually well enough to live on their own. From your tone I don’t think you understand the level of desperation these people are in and how mentally unstable a lot of them are.
And actually there is a duty to house venerable people and if there isn’t, there certainly should be. That’s what makes us a civilised nation and not a bunch of ass wipes like the Americans where everyone with any mental issue lives on the streets.
Would you prefer they were sleeping in doorways?
Agreed. The support services are in a shocking state.
The government are to blame for this. If your a drug addict or alcoholic, you don’t get sent to rehab. You get a flat if your lucky, a hostel if not. Then get given a ton of cash as your on long term sick and expected to pay for your care and live a normal life with a social worker coming along once in a blue moon… Absolutely insane.
This money should be distributed through the council directly to the service required, not given to addicts to decide themselves what to do with, because they will spend it on drugs or alcohol. Equally people should be put into rehab a lot faster and then set up with work placements upon release. It’s the only way to break the cycle and give people some dignity. And it would save us all a ton of cash that is currently being wasted, basically being given straight to dealers and off-licences.
And why do people become alcoholics and drug addicts in the first place, shocking lack of mental health support.
And why do people become alcoholics and drug addicts in the first place? Loads of reasons. That’s a whole debate by itself. Some of it can be as simple as having a major injury and becoming addicted to opioids, that’s a big one in the states.