Summer residents meeting 2026

Summary

Summer residents meeting
Wednesday 22nd July 2026

Attended by:

Residents: Rich (chair), Margaret, Mara, Nell, Debbie, Keisha, Tina, Sebastian, Bernadine, Thi Thuy, Nat, Brian, Isabella, Martin, Megan, Mads, Jennifer, Mark

Representing Southern Housing:
Jemma - Local Link
John - Contracts
Dean - Services
Norma - Estate Caretaker

Local Councillors:
Cllr Emma Neath
Cllr Charlie Lawrie

Apologies: Joseph, Cayelen, Yves

The meeting

A well-attended meeting, and our first chance to welcome Jemma, our new Local Link contact at Southern Housing, along with John from Contracts, Dean from Services and Norma, our estate caretaker. We were also glad to be joined by local Councillors Emma Neath and Charlie Lawrie. Jemma introduced the Local Link model, which now covers just under 3,000 properties, and was honest that she cannot answer for every department - service charge in particular was not represented on the night - but committed to carrying issues back and pushing internally.

The estate has had a difficult summer, and much of the meeting was given over to the failures residents have lived through during the recent heat: repeated lift breakdowns and loss of water, both hitting a twelve-storey block with elderly and disabled residents on the upper floors.

Lifts and water

Both blocks have suffered frequent lift outages, with ageing parts taking weeks to arrive and one lift out placing strain on the other. Residents described the real consequences: an elderly neighbour who fell in the stairwell and had to be helped from the floor, and some unable to leave home at all. Water was lost for more than a day on part of the estate following a tank failure, and the emergency bottled water residents are entitled to was not delivered.

A theme ran through both problems: residents ring in and are told no job exists, even while a contractor is already on site; reference numbers multiply and no single job can be tracked. We pressed for original job numbers to stay open until work is actually complete, rather than being cancelled and re-raised, which resets the clock and flatters the figures.

Where a contractor has identified the root cause and recommended a repair, and that recommendation is declined, residents are being subjected to avoidable and repeated loss of essential services. That is the pattern, and it is the cumulative impact, that the Housing Ombudsman takes seriously. We are keeping our own residents' log of issues and outcomes going forward, and Southern Housing should expect us to bring it to every meeting.

Awaab's Law

Residents want clear written confirmation of the response standards that now apply — attendance and resolution timescales for emergencies, and the statutory timescales attaching to hazards including damp, water and, where residents are directly affected, lifts. Southern Housing agreed to confirm these in writing for circulation.

Gardens

Neglected private gardens behind the 1960s low block are becoming a communal problem regardless of tenure. One elderly resident is unable to open her rear windows because of overgrowth from a neighbouring garden. Despite ongoing and repeated letters to absentee owners, this persists. Southern Housing's position is that gardens are demised to individual households and that enforcement means unpicking a drafting error some sixteen years old — but local link Jemma, who had been told only two gardens remained outstanding, found more on her visit and has taken this back to the team. A notice will go up in the hallways setting out maintenance rules and deadlines.

Service charge

The longest and most difficult discussion. Charges have risen sharply this year, after three years billed on estimates rather than actuals, and the reconciliation now landing varies enormously from block to block. The 2023–24 actuals have only just arrived; later years remain outstanding with no clear date. Residents cannot currently answer the simple question "what is the service charge?" preventing them from being able to remortgage or sell their property, and some fear they may not be able to afford to stay.

We heard that Scott Lawrence has been appointed as the new Director of Service Charges. Jemma has requested a dedicated service charge meeting, which was agreed in principle — though it will be more useful once the actual figures are available. In the meantime our advice to residents is unchanged: raise formal complaints, keep a documented paper trail, act together rather than alone, and take free advice from LEASE before withholding any payment.

Parking

The ANPR scheme continues to cause frustration for some residents. Issues raised included visitor permits remaining hard to obtain, difficulty using the system and residents who had no car when the scheme was set up now find they cannot create an account at all. The 15 minute window for permit free parking has caught out estate visitors with £120 fines issued for overstays of a few minutes. We will be holding a dedicated parking session, with the operator invited to attend, to gather everyone's views and press a workable visitor permit system.

Grounds maintenance

Contractors have been leaving cuttings and debris behind, and poppies planted by residents were strimmed. Southern Housing has already messaged the grounds team, Alvys the gardens manager will be inspecting the work, and Dean has instructed that green waste be removed immediately.

Walkabouts and drop-in surgeries

We agreed a regular rhythm, rotating between George Downing and Stamford Hill estates: a resident drop-in surgery one month, staffed by repairs and housing management, and an estate walkabout the next. There is nothing in August; the first drop-in surgery will be in September and the first walkabout in October. Councillors are invited to attend. Dates will be advertised by poster, on the estate WhatsApp and here on the website. The aim is to move personal and property-specific issues into the drop-ins, so that our meetings can focus on the estate-wide picture and shared systemic issues.

Councillor surgery

Councillors Emma Neath and Charlie Lawrie are now holding a surgery on the third Saturday of every month, 10am–12pm, at the North London Muslim Community Centre, 66–68 Cazenove Road. Residents are encouraged to copy the councillors into complaints so they can see the patterns across the estate.

Also raised and carried forward

A number of items were logged for the issues list and will be raised with Southern Housing: the motion-detected communal lighting at 49–57 that leaves corridors pitch black and residents feeling unsafe after dark; extractor fans needed for the lift mechanism rooms, as overheating has been effecting both lifts and water supply; an additional refuse bin for 1–48 (Dean has already contacted Hackney Council for two more); dangerously hot bathroom tap water; blocked gullies at 49–65; estate lighting timers; recurring loose paving stones; and the outstanding South Lawn container compensation. The contractor key access problem — cut locks and out-of-hours delays — was also raised, and residents will not be paying for replacement locks.

Thanks to all who came along and contributed.

Actions and developments will be fed back via the estate website and at future meetings. If you'd like to be added to the WhatsApp group or the mailing list, get in touch.



- If you’d like to access the full detailed notes from the meeting, download here.