By Emma Batrick of Harlow Hive

AT the beginning of this year, all-bar-one of the two bedroom flats in Redstone House cost around £950 a month to rent. This was one of the lowest private rental prices for a property of this type in the area. 

Prior to the building’s closure in May due to Essex Fire Service safety concerns, residents were issued with notice that their rents would be increasing by a third – to around £1,550/month for the same property. 

Harlow Hive has been following the situation closely. 

“I’m sad to say that the cost of renting a property in Redstone House has now priced out many of the people who once called it home and had to leave in that emergency,” says Emma Batrick, Organising and Campaigns Manager at Harlow Foodbank and Harlow Hive. 

“Many of those people are still living in temporary accommodation; sofa surfing having never been rehoused, or are trying to rebuild their lives in new places with little to no furniture. None of them have received compensation for the sudden loss of their homes, and many were unable to get all their belongings in the short time available to them.

“On 22^nd September, we contacted Harlow Council Leader Dan Swords and Cllr David Carter, Portfolio Holder for Housing, as we had found that Redstone House is once again being used by Enfield Council as temporary accommodation. We contacted them as we were concerned at who will pick up the long term shortfall in rent. This is not to say that everyone in the property has come to live there through Enfield Council – they could also be private renting – but some people have been placed there by Enfield, through no choice of their own.”

When it comes to Redstone House now (or Endeavour House, as the building owner has renamed it), the rental price of £1,550 would price out people in Harlow in receipt of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) completely. This leads to outside councils, who do benefit from a higher rate of LHA placing people here from their housing register.

Six years ago, the then leader of Harlow Council, Mark Ingall had gained an agreement from Enfield Council to stop using this building in this manner. 

Enfield Council offers a higher rate of LHA than Harlow as it is within London. Those who are moved here will be able to pay the new prices in the first instance, but there’s a big shortfall between the new rents in this building and the LHA rate they will receive in Harlow (LHA in Harlow £1,022 compared to £1,550 rent at Redstone). There’s a concern at how residents will cover that shortfall, and how long it will be until Harlow Council needs to pick that up.

“We offered this information to Harlow Council in good faith, with the best interests of those people who had presented themselves as homeless to Enfield Council – with no choice over where they went next – at heart,” Emma continues. “As this week has gone on and the protests outside relating to residents concerned about migrant families potentially moving there, it’s been sad to see videos of what people living in Endeavour/Redstone House now have experienced.   

“I also worked with some of the residents of Redstone House before it was closed by the Fire Service. Only two residents that I met had been placed in Redstone by other councils – the rest of the residents were there under private tenancies, some having lived here for many years. One person I met had lived in Harlow for 19 years – they just saw a flat on Open Rent or similar and made it their home. The message that people living in Redstone at that time were from outside councils is simply untrue, in the majority of cases.” 

As well as the treatment of previous residents and their lack of compensation, the real issue here is that whether people are working, in receipt of benefits or both, too many people simply cannot afford to live here. They are being priced out of the area or having to choose between heating or eating to afford the roof over their heads. There are several two bedroom cottages available to rent in Bishop’s Stortford at the moment for £200 less than a two bedroom flat in Redstone House. This situation is being exploited by landlords and outside councils to the detriment of people who have to leave their own communities to live here, and the detriment of long term residents of Harlow who are being priced out of their own community. 

“More needs to be done to look at and reform the housing system and how it benefits people who need good quality homes,” Emma concludes.