Squalid property used to house asylum seekers receives second inspection
|
Version 0 of 1. A London council has carried out its second inspection in the space of a week into Home Office accommodation for asylum seekers after the Guardian exposed the appalling conditions there. Inspectors from Hounslow council went into the property in the east of the borough on Wednesday, which is used to house dozens of vulnerable asylum seeker women and children. Some of them are survivors of rape and torture. The council said it had identified improvement works required at the property on earlier visits and that now the Home Office contractors have begun to do the repairs. A council spokeswoman said that a decision would be made about whether to review the property’s current licence and whether to change its conditions. A pest company has been called in and has set baits, which it will return to inspect. The council said it will be returning to monitor the work being carried out on the property. When council inspectors visited the property on Thursday last week, they said: “All communal parts of the building were inspected and some issues were noted that we will be taking up with the management as a matter of urgency.” The women said that since the Guardian exposed the conditions in the property there had been a steady stream of people coming into the property to inspect, clean and repair it. “[On Tuesday] we had someone here from the Home Office all day looking at all the rooms. Cleaners have been in and have used a lot of bleach in the kitchen. When we kept complaining about the bad conditions here to the landlord nothing was done but now the case is in the media they are listening to us.” One woman said that water was pouring through her light fitting. “I was very scared and felt very stressed,” she said. “The manager of the property was here and he also seemed very stressed about the whole thing. They are not happy that we have spoken to the media about this place.” Another woman said that she was overjoyed that at last things were changing at the accommodation. “I have twice tried to commit suicide here,” she said. “It is a very bad place. I have a lot of medical records which link my illnesses with the bad conditions here. I’m happy that things are changing now.” Two private contractors, Clearsprings Ready Homes, one of the largest providers of Home Office accommodation, and Cromwood Housing have contracts to manage the accommodation. The owner of the property, Imtiaz Aziz, lives next door. His home is very luxurious. Clearsprings hit the headlines after the Guardian revealed that it compelled asylum seekers to wear coloured wristbands in exchange for food. The women have complained about an infestation of rats in the kitchen, filthy conditions, leaks, naked wires left exposed and infestations of bedbugs. The women have also complained about the lack of a garden for the children to play in. The Aziz family have taken the back garden that belongs to the accommodation as part of their garden and, following a request from Cromwood, have provided a small, overgrown patch of ground to the asylum seekers, which they say is too dangerous for children to play in. The women said that today the weeds in the patch of garden allocated to the asylum seekers have been cut down. When asked about the women’s claims about the conditions of the housing, Aziz said: “Our contractors haven’t always been reliable. We have been through several different contractors.” Both Clearsprings and Cromwood said the Home Office would respond on their behalf. A Home Office spokesman said: “Providers are monitored extremely closely to ensure they meet required standards and the contracts include measures to ensure any issues are quickly addressed. “Where a contractor is found to be falling short of these standards, we work with them to ensure issues are quickly addressed and when they are not we can and do impose sanctions.” A Hounslow council spokeswoman said: “A further visit to the licensed HMO [house of multiple occupancy] was made today, on Wednesday by council officers. “They met with the owner and contractors who were on site and who were cooperative and had begun work on issues identified by the council officers on earlier visits. A pest company had also visited the property and found no evidence of cockroaches but did set baits which they will return to inspect. “The property is licensed to house 31 people and the number of people living there was not found to be over that. A decision will be made on whether the licence should be reviewed with conditions. There will be further visits by the council to monitor the works being carried out by the owner.” |