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The Rochester Road property that was sold by the council at auction |
‘THEY SOLD MY HOME’ BOMBSHELL
Tenant opens CNJ to discover she has lost her flat
A DEAF woman confronted housing chiefs after discovering that the adapted flat she had lived in for 11 years had been sold – by reading about it in the New Journal.
Lucy Eagar, 45, opened last week’s issue to discover that her ground-floor flat in Rochester Road, Kentish Town, had fetched £715,000 at auction.
She had been moved out of the flat for repairs but expected to return in six months and had no idea it had been included in Camden’s controversial council homes sell-off.
The flat is one of 500 homes on a hit-list of properties facing auction to the highest bidder. The Town Hall insists it needs the money to plug a funding gap caused by a lack of finance from government.
Housing chiefs looked white with horror when Ms Eagar, who asked not to be pictured, challenged them at a Town Hall meeting on Monday.
Worryingly, tenants’ groups said the case did not appear isolated and there is a growing feeling among residents that the council have rushed too quickly into the sales.
Ms Eagar said: “I’m angry because I was not told. I received a letter saying my rent would increase by £1 – but nothing at all about my home being sold. I was originally told it would be six months for them to do the work, but it has now been four years. I am deaf and I feel that I have been badly treated by the council.”
Lib Dem housing chief Councillor Chris Naylor was defending council policy at the meeting when he was wrong-footed by Ms Eagar’s bombshell.
He said he could not comment on “individual cases” but pledged to investigate.
Pat Hayden, one of Camden’s district housing managers, told the meeting: “I thought she had been offered another property and I thought she had accepted.”
A council spokeswoman later added: “Fifty-seven Rochester Road was an empty property. The former tenant of the property was definitely not expecting to return to the address.”
But Ms Eagar said: “I would love to be back at Rochester Road.”
Her brother Mark, interpreting for his sister, said her temporary accommodation in St Augustine’s Road, Camden Town, was unsuitable and that she needed a permanent home.
He said: “When she moved out the flat had lots of cracks that even I would not like to go near. There was a problem with subsidence and the council said they would sort it out but they didn’t.
“She has had a series of operations and has become depressed because of the wait. She can’t just live surrounded by boxes all her life. It seems the council has no interest in the disabled.”
Petra Dando, from the Camden Association of Street Properties, which organised the meeting, said: “We have 30 to 40 cases of people who are moved out for central works. It is the biggest fear. People just get lost in the system.
“Lucy’s story strikes at the heart of this problem, which is mismanagement.”
Casp is now calling for a cross-party coalition at the Town Hall to lobby the government for investment. |
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