aylesburytenantsfirst

admin — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 00:32:32 +0000

A message to the tenants and leaseholders of Arklow, Bradenham, Chartridge, Chiltern, 300 – 313 Missenden and 1 -59 Wolverton

admin — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:52:38 +0000

A view of Wolverton, with Canary Wharf on the horizon

Defend your home – your moral right
You don’t have to move – sit tight
Be calm. Be still. No need to fight
To Defend our Homes with all our might.

(and to Defend Council Housing)

There are about 2700 dwellings on the Aylesbury. 8500 people who appreciate having an affordable home close to central London. 8500 who need somewhere to live.

We lost Little Bradenham and Red Lion Close. There are lots of flats vacant and being boarded up. But still thousands live on the Aylesbury who do not want to see the eradication of social housing – of COUNCIL housing – in their neighbourhood. (And also more tenants – ‘temporary tenants’ are moving in…. )

‘Red Lion Row’ is a fig-leaf, accomodating a tiny proportion of the previous batch of Aylesbury tenants who had to ‘HOME-SEARCH’.
(Albany Place Hitard Court, Red Lion Row, London SE17) -
the stuff of parody (sneak a peak at Real Estate by Jonathan Weston)

The pace of “social rented” new build
is not keeping up with housing need.
In particular there is a current shortage of 3/4/5 bedroom homes in Southwark.
And this shortage will get worse if the many spacious Aylesbury maisonettes go.
We don’t believe that there is enough good quality housing to rehouse us.

So, Arklow, Bradenham, Chartridge, Chiltern, 300 – 313 Missenden and 1 -59 Wolverton, both tenants and leaseholders, if you are one of these 636 residents that the council is attempting to rehouse, we have an urgent message for you

Do not accept any reduction of your living standards
and be wary of promises and hidden charges.
(e.g. service charges at London and Quadrant’s Albany Place start at £199 a month)

If you are a Tenant – Network with us to find out what is happening. Network with us to establish and maintain a good standard of repairs and services (heating, hot water, working lifts and pest control). Landlords have certain legal obligations to their tenants, and when Southwark fail to provide services we pay for, we are entitled to claim compensation. There is a multi-million pound budget assigned for repairs and ‘planned preventative maintenance’.

If you are a Leaseholder - We are advising Leasholders to research the Heygate and Wolverton experience of challenging Compulsory Purchase Orders and to network with each other (via http://halag.wordpress.com ). Bear in mind that the current, Southwark endorsed “Aylesbury Leaseholder Group” is dominated by non-resident landlords and those able and willing to move out of London.

Together we are strong, and can hold Southwark accountable.

We are interested to network with both tenants and leaseholders from the Aylesbury – both have many interests in common.

“Aylesbury Tenants and Leaseholders First” PR campaign

admin — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 14:10:33 +0000

It is in the interests of all residents on the Aylesbury that there needs to be a radical re-appraisal of the value of where we live. (Were you aware that there was a recent NDC financed £24000 PR press campaign yet again branding us “The Estate from Hell”) ( October 2008, in the Times and the Independent )
Our lived experience of crime on the Estate does not match the myth – and this is borne out by the statistics. We need to counter these pernicious negative stereotypes. By listing and emphasising the many positive features of our homes that we now enjoy, and celebrating our diverse community, we strengthen our bargaining position. We are not going to be bullied into giving up good sound insulation, light, views and space because of exterior neglect and delays in re-housing growing families due to current housing scarcity. So here is a place for showing some images of Aylesbury from the inside. And that’s where, when home, we spend our time.

Once there was a 2 bed show-home. An enticing sample of future life in the Southwest Corner? Albany Place, Hitard Court, Red Lion Row, London SE17 has now been built, and houses just a few previous Aylesbury residents. Just like the show-home, the floor area does not rival existing Aylesbury 2 bed flats. The developers boasted that the rooms were as spacious, but corridors were narrower, and there was considerably less storage space. We complained about the show-home that there was a lack of separate loo and washing facilities, if, as the developers asserted, these two bedroom flats are considered suitable for families of four. So now some two-bedroom flats at Hitard Court have two bathrooms?!? And therefore even more cramped living space.

We know that there are many house-proud and artistic residents on the Aylesbury who have done fantastic things with their homes, their gardens and balconies.

Mick's mural in his living room in Chiltern, used as a back-drop for a photo-shoot for Italian Elle

Danesfield tulips

enjoying the sun, sitting by large kitchen-diner window

Opposite the park - Danesfield garden

So help us with our PR – please send us your pictures of rooms in your home to rival the London and Quadrant hype…

danesfield garden

And send us your Aylesbury pictures of proper homes for families of four or more – 3 or more bedrooms…

And join with us in enterprises to make the most of our large communal spaces…

which will be in short supply on any new development….

mixed community

admin — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 14:06:56 +0000

WE LIVE HERE NOW AND WE LOVE OUR HOMES

A living room on the 8th floor of Wendover

teachers
researchers
IT systems analysts
ex-professional boxers
MA students
musicians
nurses
nannies
cleaners
hospital workers
builder-decorators
professional artists

Many owe their careers to having an affordable, spacious home this close to London