Some Lewisham flood residents told to move out of London to remain Get Living tenants

Some residents formerly living in a recently flooded new Lewisham development have been told they will have to move well out of London for up to a year if they want to be rehomed by their landlord.

Last month the latest stage of Lewisham Gateway saw a flood which knocked out water supply for more than 400 residents with Build to Rent operator Get Living putting people up in temporary housing such as hotels.

In recent days residents have been offered a transfer to four Get Living sites including two in London at Stratford and Elephant & Castle – but only a limited number of places were on offer for those sites in the capital.

Those who noticed the notification email too late are being told to move away as far as Leatherhead and Maidenhead if they are to be rehoused directly by Built to Rent landlord Get Living or find a new pace to live by 23rd April. Rents for one bedroom homes at The Filigree start from £1,750 pcm.

Commutes

For those who work in, say, London Bridge they’ll need to find an alternative place to live extremely quickly or potentially face a hefty jump in commute time and cost. A train to Waterloo can take 45 minutes then a change at Waterloo East before another train to Lewisham would be required.

One resident stated they were told yesterday (30 March) that if they refused to move to sites outside London they will need to find a new place to live by 23 April.

A task made extremely difficult by firstly needing to find a suitable place and finding time for a viewing, have an offer accepted by a landlord, complete all credit checks and then organise a removal company. All the while finding thousands for a new deposit and first month’s rent upfront.

Add in new doctors, dentists, schooling and much else and the task becomes huge.

A resident who contacted this site stated: “Get Living has no legal obligation to help us find alternative accommodation. Many of us have now been displaced for a month, trying to balance work with the stress of finding a home.

“Updates have come in piecemeal until suddenly, we were thrown into what felt like a raffle—either securing a place in a reasonable area, being sent miles away, or being left with nothing.

“This approach is completely detached from people’s real-life needs. My partner has a serious medical condition, and this ordeal has been devastating for her. And I know others are in even worse situations.”

Problematic

The site was developed by developer Muse and constructed by Balfour Beatty. Build to Rent brand Get Living manage the site.

The entire phase two of this project been a bit of a disaster for years with construction taking an age to commence, then once it finally did get underway completion was delayed as a key contractor left the job.

Upon opening none of the promised commercial units appeared open for many months based upon on a number of visits around the site – and then the flood has seen all work on shop openings cease and residents forced out for up to a year.

Get Living is owned by Australian superannuation fund Aware Super, Dutch pension fund APG and DOOR SLP which comprises Oxford Properties Group, Alecta, Allianz Real Estate, Local Pension Fund Partnership Investments and DV4 Limited.

UPDATE: Get Living have responded and said in a statement:

 “Firstly, we want to continue to thank our residents for their patience while we work through everyone’s options. While full investigations are underway to understand the extent of the damage and how long it will take for our homes to become habitable again, our focus right now is on what we can do to support our residents, who we appreciate each have their own individual circumstances to navigate.

“To ensure that no one is left without a home, we are providing the option to move into another Get Living neighbourhood, including East Village in Stratford, Elephant Central in Elephant and Castle, The Oakgate in Leatherhead and One Maidenhead in Maidenhead, on the same rent they were paying at the Filigree or less if the property they are occupying would usually attract a market rent that is lower, until their home becomes available.

 “While we do have a home available for everyone, our central London locations are subject to availability and have proved a popular option for some of our residents. Alternatively, we have been discussing with residents the option to continue their tenancy with rent on hold until The Filigree reopens or decide to end their tenancy completely. In all scenarios, residents will receive a rent refund for the period of 27 February – 31 March and temporary accommodation will continue to be funded by Get Living until 23rd April.”

They also sent across a number of points:

• The defective mains water pipe was laid by before Get Living took possession of The Filigree and we are liaising with the developer and the contractor of the scheme on next steps to remediate the problem as soon as possible
• The flood in the energy centre at The Filigree on 27 February was catastrophic, causing substantial damage to the equipment and leading to the outage. It also made the electrical panel located in the energy centre inoperable, meaning that the emergency generator that supplies power to critical life safety systems in the event of a mains power failure is not working
• As soon as the leak was discovered, Get Living moved quickly to get a specialist team on site to begin the process of draining the water and establishing the damage. It became clear that unfortunately the damage was such that would be no power, heating and hot water to the buildings, and we were advised that residents should be moved to alternative accommodation for their own comfort and safety.
• ICAB, a specialist accommodation provider, was put in touch with all residents to offer them support with booking alternative accommodation as close to The Filigree as possible, availability allowing.
• Get Living is providing compensation of up to £150 per night for accommodation for those that wish to book directly, and £50 per night per person for those staying with family or friends.
• Whilst residents are in temporary accommodation Get Living is also compensating £30 per adult per day and £20 per child for food, for those staying in hotels or with friends
• Get Living is funding temporary accommodation up until the 23rd of April
• After the 23rd of April renters will need to source alternative accommodation whilst The Filigree is being repaired and Get Living has been working with residents who would like to relocate to another Get Living neighbourhood paying the same rent as at Lewisham, or lower if the alternate neighbourhood is at lower rent. Residents can also choose to end their tenancy if they would prefer.
• The central London neighbourhoods, East Village in Stratford and Elephant Central in Elephant Castle, have limited availability and so unfortunately cannot accommodate all residents. However, there are more homes available in Leatherhead and Maidenhead.
• Rent was put on hold from 24/03, and, in all scenarios, residents will receive a rent refund for the period of 27 February – 31 March

In response a resident who contacted this site stated that “whilst they welcomed compensation payments covering hotel costs since being forced out by the flood and a rent refund is welcome, the issue remains residents were only offered an alternative Get Living accommodation on 30 March and by the time of checking availability no Get Living properties in London were still available, leaving a short period until 23 April to find another home near employment, services and family support or move to Leatherhead or Maidenhead.

“Just over one month’s rent refund will not cover the need to find a new deposit for a future home at short notice nor higher travel costs to work for an undetermined amount of time in addition to moving costs and administrative time.

“Given the situation, Get Living should fund residents to move to an alternative secure non-Get Living owned residence at equivalent rent cost to that paid for homes in The Filigree in or near Lewisham until The Filigree is repaired given the limited choice of Get Living apartments on offer in London.”