In a shock move on Tuesday, housing association Places for People agreed to schedule a meeting with the Cambridge branch of the community union ACORN, for negotiation of demands arising from the state of PfP’s Radiance House property in the city.
The demands are that Places for People take these steps:
- Train staff to deal with mental health issues properly
- Install new cooker heads in affected flats
- Release fire safety reports
- Fix the ventilation in the building to deal with damp and mould
- Compensate affected residents for their stress with payments
Ventilation, damp, mould and fire-risk
The move follows an action in which ACORN Cambridge, together with activists from London branches of the union, blockaded PfP’s headquarters in Grays Inn Road. Ash, one of the affected Radiance House residents, spoke to East Anglia Bylines about the problems of mould and fire-safety.
“I’ve been complaining to Places for People about ventilation, damp, mould and fire-risk since 2016. They seem to be just doing the bare minimum and covering things up to suit their benefits, basically.”
He went on:
“They’ve chosen not to deal with these issues. I tried going through solicitors, environmental health and Cambridge councillors, and got nowhere. I was going around in circles. They just don’t seem to want to be able to fix the building itself. So I’ve joined the union ACORN. PfP seem to think it’s okay to book in work and not turn up. I’m a sole trader. When they do that, I’m not earning. So we’re doing it back to them. We’re going to disrupt their work until they get everything fixed properly.”
Ben Criger, secretary of ACORN Cambridge, was also taking part in the blockade. He explained:
“Radiance House has been plagued with disrepair and safety issues for many years, possibly back to its construction. The owners of that building have to answer for its suitability for living in. They need to compensate our members and repair their building.”
He explained how local branches of ACORN support each other.
“We helped the Norwich branch shut down a bank because their buy-to-let mortgage policy constrained the owner to kick the tenant out after a year. Occupying their branches for a day got them to bump that up to three years. People power does work!”
Branches across the country
One of ACORN’s London members at the action was Maurice Lange. He explained:
“ACORN is spread across the country. How we can help each other’s actions varies. For example, Falmouth in Cornwall is quite far away from other people. But in London, we’ve got about 800 members across the capital to turn out to each other’s actions. A branch needs 100 members. We’ve now got three branches across London which are very active, and then we’ve got a couple more in the pipeline. And it’s only going to get bigger!”
East Anglia Bylines reached out to Places for People, but they have yet to comment. On their website, they describe themselves as the UK’s leading social enterprise, and in these terms:
“Our inclusive workforce creates and supports Communities where everyone can feel welcome. Happiness, health, and inclusivity are our top priorities when developing Communities, and we often involve our Customers in the creation of our products and services. After all, who knows the needs of a Community better than the Customers living in it?”
The meeting between Cambridge ACORN and executives from Places for People has been scheduled for Wednesday 22 January. East Anglia Bylines wishes both sides well in arriving at a mutually agreeable settlement.
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