Letter: The Lack of Social Housing in Guildford Has a Real Impact

Published on: 8 Sep, 2017
Updated on: 8 Sep, 2017

By George Dokimakis

Chairman of Guildford Labour

Guildford Borough Council (GBC) is failing in its duty to look after its residents. The lack of social housing in Guildford has now resulted in a registered disabled person being made homeless.

This has happened amidst all the talk about the Local Plan and whether we should build houses, or not, and where. Local residents are suffering because of the decisions GBC has taken.

Since 2005, the social housing stock available to GBC has fallen by 193 properties and this has put an enormous pressure on the council, those in need of social housing and existing residents. Unfortunately, the way this is dealt with by the current administration is wholly inadequate to the point where evicting a registered disabled person has become an acceptable decision.

In one of the social houses in Guildford, an old man who lived in that house all his life, died a few months after he had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. His grandson had been living with him for the last two years and supported him throughout, whilst working full time in a minimum wage job.

The elderly man’s daughter, and mother of the disabled young man, lived nearby in social housing. She put an exchange request to surrender her property and move in with her terminally ill father and her son, so she could support them. But GBC rejected the request on the grounds of over-occupancy.

When the grandfather died the council issued a notice for the property to be emptied and vacated. The grandson produced documentation to show he had succession, yet the council rejected his application and stated he was not entitled to social housing.

In a meeting between the council, the grandson and his mother to notify them his application had been rejected, the grandson was told he is not entitled to social housing and advised that the best avenue would be for him to move back with his mother. Understandably the family find this advice incredible given that the mother’s initial request to move in with her dying father was rejected on the grounds of over-occupancy. [What size were the two houses?]

The situation and approach taken by the council, in this case, is so absurd that one could imagine it was taken from Yes, Minister. But sadly, this is not a comedy show and a real person is being made homeless.

During this upsetting period for the family, where they had to witness a loved one slowly passing away and dealing with his demise, the council has demonstrated a complete lack of empathy and understanding of its primary purpose: to look after its residents.

It has caused profound harm to the family that could have easily been avoided and it got to the point where the mother had to be hospitalised due to stress.

This is completely unacceptable. Guildford is one of the most affluent towns in the country. People on the minimum wage that work in our town need support.

Yet, the council continues its course of action.

There is obviously a duty of care to the people waiting years for social housing. Little can justify making someone homeless.

Of course, homelessness is a national issue that is being addressed. Royal assent has been given for the Homeless Reduction Act in parliament that would have prevent this from happening, yet the Act will not come into effect until some point in the next year.

Now, whilst this legislation is not yet implemented, a person is being made homeless. This is not a person that some of the right-wing press likes to vilify. This is a young man that is trying to make ends meet, works full time, yet in Guildford, working full time on minimum wage is simply not enough.

It is near impossible to have accommodation working full time on the minimum wage and have a decent standard of life. This man is a prime example of those who are “Just about managing”. Our Prime Minister in her maiden speech mentioned that her government will be looking to support them.

Building more social housing is necessary to avoid more cases like this. It is not a short-term solution and enough years have been wasted on inertia. Such lack of housing causes real harm and distress to our fellow citizens. It is time for brave decisions and action.

In the meantime, I urge GBC to do the right thing: reconsider this case and prevent a person in need from being made homeless.

A spokesperson for Guildford Borough Council responded: “We have over 5,000 people currently on our housing waiting list and we have a duty to ensure that housing is allocated to those in greatest need, following agreed criteria which are set out on our website.

“Although we cannot discuss the details of individual cases to protect the privacy of those involved, evidence must be provided of a disability and this was not forthcoming in this case.

“With regards to arranging a mutual exchange of a council property, we would not agree to a tenant moving from one suitable property which was large enough to meet their needs into another, smaller property which would be overcrowded.

“When a tenant dies, we must formally seek possession of the property by law, which takes 28 days. If a person who is resident in the property claims succession, they must provide written evidence of this in the form of bills, electoral register details etc. If this is not provided succession cannot be proved.

“We can offer assistance to those seeking to find living accommodation through our non-priority scheme which offers help with a deposit for rooms in a shared home.”

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