Harlow Council leader pledges to make housing a priority
News / Wed 14th Dec 2022 at 10:30am
THE LEADER of Harlow Council has pledged to a number of things to improve housing in Harlow.
Conservative councillor Russell Perrin has put the matter of housing at the heart of his council policies.
This not only includes more council housebuilding but also repairs to housing, getting the number of void properties down and dealing with issues such as damp and mould.
YH sat down with councillor Perrin to find out more.
Kim Oconnor
2022-12-14 11:09:51
😆😆😆😅🤣oh look there goes another one. . Last year council come out to look at broken bedroom handles on window, he didn't replace, it poured with rain that day, I showed him how rain is settling on top of bay window causing it to leak through causing mould. Nothing has been done for years about our windows.
Theman
2022-12-14 12:17:43
I think most people are wise to the sound bites these days. Too many politicians and too many words. How about some action instead. You never know it might get you re-elected
David Forman
2022-12-14 14:24:18
Russell deserves congratulating for tackling all 59 temporary roofing structures, but how many will be completed by local private contractors. Torries just can't resist privatisation.
David Vincent
2022-12-14 14:28:43
Seems HTS getting sidelined in building repairs, so I wonder how the grand plan for a future HTS Construction subsidiary is coming along?
Nicholas Taylor
2022-12-14 17:32:28
As a former Area Housing Manager I would have thought that housing should always have been a priority. Lets not forget that HTS have in the past reported that they made a profit, which in reality was an underspend, that is, they were paid to do a job, did not complete the job so returned money to the Council. The Harlow Alliance Party have been raising the issue of the lack of housing repairs for at least a couple of years. The Council have been repairing and painting the external fabric of it's houses at such a slow rate that it could take a couple of decades to complete them all. This just means that for instance roofs and gutters leak, left for years until things get much worse and then cost more to rectify. As for void turn arounds, well the practices used have been scrutinised many times. To many officers and Councillors are spending to much time writing and reading endless reports running to hundreds of pages long, they need to spend more time actually getting things done.
David Forman
2022-12-15 09:48:28
Nicholas Taylor, I know from past experience as a Labour Party member that Labour councillors don't read endless reports. Chris Vince couldn't even spot worse terms and conditions in the new construction subsidiary even though it was printed in black and white in the HTS Business Plan which he spent 10 months discussing. Labour don't do details, that's too much like busy work and doesn't involve selfies.
Nicholas Taylor
2022-12-15 11:21:33
David, I think most Councillors don't read these huge reports, I have tried and it is an impossible task to keep up with them. Cllr Carter did of course but I think he took his eye of the ball which really mattered, that is, the problems being experienced by Council tenants. This article demonstrates that things that really matter to people are no better under the Tories. Under investment in the housing stock, housing estates looking as bad as ever, no action to make Harlow's cycle track system "the best in the world" etc etc. Just like Cllr Perrin said, if 5000 homes were built, there would still be 5000 on the waiting list, once 59 roofs have been repaired there will likely be another 59 on the list.
David Forman
2022-12-15 11:35:14
Nicholas, you are absolutely right about Simon Carter being the one councillor who does read the reports in full.
8 Comments for Harlow Council leader pledges to make housing a priority: