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Housing refurbishment programme is a shambles
• DAN Germann, the divisional director for the Apollo Group which is putting new bathrooms and kitchens in our flats, said in his letter last week (pictured right) that the overwhelming majority of feedback from residents is extremely positive.
Has he been to ask them himself? If not who is telling him that? There’s not a single resident in my block who can say anything positive about Apollo. Of course, we know refurbishment is going to involved disruption and inconvenience of some kind. But Apollo’s organisation is a shambles. They don’t turn up when they say they’re going to. They don’t tell you until late in the day that nobody will be coming that day. They’ve even rung up late in the day to say nobody’s coming when their workers are already in the flat at work. We can phone the “liaison officers” but they don’t know what’s going on themselves. The tenants’ wishes are ignored. And the standard of work is frequently atrocious and requires tenants to fight their corner very hard indeed to get it put right. Some are understandably too wearied by the whole process to fight any more. That’s not positive feedback, it’s being ground into submission.
Open your eyes, Mr Germann, and get out and see for yourself.
Name and address supplied
Hollow ring to Apollo
• DAN Germann’s words about the high standard of work Apollo is doing in conjunction with Camden Council ring a bit hollow in my ears.
A few years back we had major works done by Apollo on our block. It was a tale of disasters with paint peeling off the walls and having to be redone, to windows being painted shut, to all kinds of problems. We even had a break-in from the lack of security on the scaffolding.
The whole thing should never have been signed off by the clerk of works.
In the end we leaseholders had to take the council to the Leaseholders Valuation Tribunal at which we won our case.
What was priced for the work in the tender and the reality of what was done didn’t justify the council’s bill of £8,000 for each flat.
We have now had a pipe leak into the walls and woodwork causing flooding when it rains and it has taken two-and- a-half years for it only now to be rectified, resulting in more costly repairs and redecoration due to the delay which no doubt will be passed on to leaseholders and also the tenants.
CLEM ALFORD
Tavistock Mansions, WC1
Poor standards of work
• HAVING my kitchen and bathroom refurbished by Apollo confirms all the fears we had when the direct labour organisation (DLO) was scrapped and all work outsourced to private contractors.
I used to work for the DLO and can tell you that if I had turned in work of the standard being done by Apollo, I would have been sacked.
I say work done by Apollo, but the work seems to be sub-contracted so many times, that the blokes who finally do it are often untrained and claim to be paid a pittance once those higher up the
food chain have
taken their slice of the money.
No wonder so many walk off the job when something better comes along.
Not that I blame the private contractors. It would be like blaming a dog for barking.
That’s what they do if their allowed to. I blame the people we pay our rent to: Camden Council.
I don’t know how much they’re paying out, but it’s up to them to see that they’re getting value for money.
And it’s up to them to see our money isn’t gobbled up in a mad grab for profits, leaving tenants with sub-standard botched up homes.
Name and address supplied
• APOLLO' S letter about what a wonderful job they’re doing doing up our homes completely ignored the points I raised in my letter the week before: about ugly cable ducts instead of concealed wiring; workers walking off the job and the installing of kitchens which pay no heed to tenants’ needs.
If it wasn’t for the misery they’re inflicting on decent people, it would be completely laughable.
Name and address supplied
• HAVING your home refurbished by Apollo is like being occupied by an alien army.
We’re not listened to. We’re pawns in a game that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with us. Some of the workers are nice. But tenants are made to feel they just don’t matter.
Name and address supplied
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