The housing secretary vehemently criticized Britain’s largest social landlord, Clarion, for failing to meet “basic housing standards” as he warned that the organization needed to be improved. Michael Gove said he was “deeply disappointed” by Clarion’s recent performance after the housing ombudsman found the landlord guilty of “serious mismanagement” in two separate cases, finding “serious problems with leaks, moisture, mold and pest control”. as well as complaint handling. Last year, an investigation by ITV News found that Clarion’s tenants live in miserable conditions in one of its largest residential complexes in Merton, South London. The landlord made more than 500 renovations to the Eastfields mansion after our discovery and apologized to the tenants, but insisted it was an isolated case.
In June 2021, Daniel Hewitt announced the difficult conditions in which some tenants of Clarion Housing had to live
In a letter to Clarion CEO Claire Miller, Mr Gove cited the Eastfields investigation and expressed concern that the same problems were still occurring on his property a year later. “No one should live in a home with these conditions – and it should not take years to correct them,” Mr Gove wrote.
“I am deeply disappointed that, as one of the largest social housing landlords who should lead by example, you have failed to meet the basic standards for your tenants. “I intend to take a personal and direct interest in your association’s approach to housing, engagement with residents and, in particular, vulnerable complainants.”
Daniel Hewitt gives an idea of the latest developments in the social housing crisis in Britain
Clarion is the largest housing association in the United Kingdom, owning and managing 125,000 homes with around 350,000 tenants. The housing secretary said he was ready to intervene personally “to raise standards and hold landlords accountable”.
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What exactly Mr. Gove is prepared or able to do is not clear in the letter, although I understand that the government may threaten to withdraw the funding promised to Clarion for new social homes if the landlord does not improve.
Clarion was recently identified as a new “strategic partner” for Homes England, which will play a key role in accelerating affordable housing, a partnership that can also be revisited. In the Queen’s speech, the government also outlined plans to give more powers to the social housing regulator, which could impose unlimited fines on social landlords. The housing ombudsman has already announced his intention to conduct a broader investigation into Clarion.
Earlier this year, Daniel Hewitt announced a Clarion tenant whose hallway was full of boiling water
In a statement, Clarion’s Claire Miller said: “We can confirm that we received a letter from the Secretary of State regarding the Ombudsman’s decision, where we failed to provide the service our residents are entitled to expect. “As CEO of Clarion Housing Group, I will never deviate from my responsibility to provide and maintain good quality housing. “We have not made every decision correctly as an organization, but we are making good progress and have recently published a detailed update on the actions we have taken to significantly improve our service. “There is no quick fix to the housing crisis and the UK has some of the oldest housing stock in the world. “As a charity, we will continue to do our utmost to meet this challenge, and we hope the government will work with us for our common goals.”
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