"It's 18 months since Contour Housing met Steven Court residents and apologised for the awful state of the property. They talked about upgrading, conversion or demolition and rebuild. 18 months on, little has changed apart from 15 apartments being empty", says Whalley Range Liberal Democrat Councillor John Grant.
Steven Court is a block of apartments in an attractive part of Chorton owned and managed by Contour Housing. The block had been allowed to get into an awful state of repair and service maintenance was totally inadequate. In September 2006 Contour Housing admitted at a meeting with tenants that they had let the tenants down very badly and wanted to put things right. There was also talk about the future development of the property or the site and the options the housing association was considering.
Optimism about the a new start and brighter future was created and subsequently tenants were given the opportunity through a questionnaire to say how they would like to see the property developed. 18 months on very little has changed apart from the fact that there are now 15 apartments empty and tenants still do not know what the plans for the future are.
Liberal Democrat Councillor John Grant said:
"Residents in Steven Court have had an awful time and their landlord admits it. Tenants feel that the property is being left to deteriorate. This encourages even more people to move out."
"Communication between the housing association and tenants is very poor. Residents still do not know what plans Contour has for this property in the long term. I am not surprised that they are so frustrated. They are being kept in the dark, in a decaying property with poor service. I am asking Contour Housing to do better."
ENDS
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