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TV’s out for elderly as council cancels their licence
THE plight of vulnerable residents of an old people’s home due for demolition worsened this week – the council cancelled their television licence.
Three elderly people remain living in Macintosh House, Beaumont Street, Marylebone, controversially decommissioned by housing chiefs earlier this year. They have been told that it is now illegal to watch their television in the lounge. It was removed on Monday after the residents were told “it is very likely that Macintosh House will be visited by licensing officers”.
Sante Zanello, a former West End chef who has lived in Marylebone for 40 years and led the campaign against the closure, has complained to the Local Government Ombudsman.
He said: “We have just received a letter from Westminster Council informing residents that TV licence for the communal lounge will not be renewed. We are extremely disappointed as we had this facility provided since the beginning of our tenancy. The television set has been removed. Is this harassment?”
Steve Moore, Westminster City Council’s deputy director of housing, said: “This scheme is being decommissioned and there are now only three residents remaining. We have offered to arrange concessionary TV licences for eligible residents so they can have a television in their own rooms pending their moves to new accommodation in the near future.”
The council ordered the closure of the home in March.
It plans to sell the lease back to landlord Howard de Walden for £1.6 million. They say the sale will be ring-fenced for upgrades to its existing stock of sheltered acccomodation.
The majority of the original 29 residents have left the home after they were offered £3,300 to move into sheltered accommodation in more deprived parts of Westminster. |
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