Hackney Council under fire over housing conditions as protesters demand action

Exbury House residents on the Town Hall steps in July

Hackney Council is facing fierce criticism over the maintenance of its housing stock, as councillors and campaigners demand more action to protect residents.

At the last full council meeting on Wednesday, protesters from the Acorn Hackney pressure group stormed the gallery with cries of ‘Shame on you!’ over living conditions at Exbury House on Frampton Park Estate.

Meanwhile, the cabinet was questioned by members of the public over “poor quality reactive repairs” on Banbury Estate, just a few streets away.

Anne Parisio asked Cllr Clayeon McKenzie (Labour) how the Town Hall will act to upgrade social housing.

She said: “There’s been no major maintenance of Banbury Estate for two decades, only poor quality reactive repairs.

“Pipe and drainage problems threaten the integrity of the buildings. How will Hackney Council ensure that the health of residents on Banbury Estate is not jeopardised by the deteriorating housing stock?”

Answering on Cllr McKenzie’s behalf, Deputy Mayor Guy Nicholson (Labour) said the council had in fact undertaken a “certain amount of capital works” on the estate.

“The council’s next steps are stock condition surveys, identifying capital works required on an estate, and Banbury is included in this,” he explained.

“It will provide a basis of a refreshed asset management strategy, and enable the council to plan and map out the necessary changes over the next seven years.”

Parisio, who belongs to a Tenants and Residents Association (TRA), replied that she had not seen any regular maintenance happening despite broken-down lifts and other problems.

She asked why residents were not given regular updates about maintenance.

Nicholson said TRAs should be receiving information from the council and reporting on it at meetings.

In light of the Grenfell inquiry’s conclusions being published, Cllr Claudia Turbet-Delof (Independent Socialist) also quizzed the council over persistent fire safety issues in its properties.

“Can you tell us if those fire safety defects have been resolved?” she asked.

Cllr Sem Moema (Labour) said all council-owned homes had been assessed and surveyed in the aftermath of the Grenfell fire, in which flammable aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding set a tower block ablaze, killing 72 people.

“No buildings [in Hackney] were identified with the same ACM cladding system,” she said.

“However, six buildings were identified [with cladding] which on its own is combustible as part of an external wall render.

“But we have gone further than either the new building regulations or the recommendations of the Grenfell inquiry.

“The council has assessed its own homes to determine any homes with spandrel panels.

“[We’ve also] undertaken PAS 9980 surveys, which take a complete view of the whole fabric of the building and any additional fire safety measures included as part of the construction.”

Spandrel panels are the coloured panels found under the windows of most council properties, and they can have varying fire safety performance.

Cllr Turbet-Delof asked if residents could feel safe in their homes, given that the risks—identified in the council’s review—still needed fixing.

Cllr Moema emphasised that the Town Hall had decided in 2022 not to pass on any fire safety costs to leaseholders in council buildings over 11 metres tall.

“This was recommended as a result of the fire risk assessments undertaken, which obviously removed a lot of concern for leaseholders,” she added.

Cllr Moema added that intermediate works with the fire brigade and joint inspections had been carried out, along with conversations with freeholders of ex-council stock to “speed up full remediation” of those properties.

“There is a legal responsibility on the freeholder that whilst works are waiting to be scheduled and undertaken and funding sorted, they have in place measures to safeguard resident safety,” she said.

In August this year, a report from the Regulator of Social Housing found the Town Hall’s housing department guilty of “serious failings” over a lack of gas and electrical safety in thousands of council homes across the borough.

Concerns around conditions in Hackney’s housing stock also come on the back of the council’s announcement that it would revamp lifts across its homes and estates as part of a £24 million spend over the next two to four years.

The decision came three years after the death of a resident in a Hackney tower block.

Acorn Hackney activists marched on the Town Hall in July, condemning the council’s “failure” to maintain Exbury House, claiming it had been “allowed to deteriorate as a result of the council’s negligence”.

Residents complained of constant leaks, frequent lift breakdowns and broken doors that they said had left parts of the building unsafe and unsanitary.

Exbury House is six storeys high and houses many elderly residents who say they rarely have any choice but to take the stairs.

The building also has no wheelchair access.