The Salvation Army, one of the UK’s most well-known and well-funded charities, has been accused of behaving like a ‘fraudulent landlord’, leaving some of its private tenants at ‘serious’ risk for at least seven years.
The Christian organization, whose charitable goals include “alleviating poverty … suffering, suffering” and “helping those in need of protection”, ignored repeated demands for better conditions from its tenants in Hadley, Essex.
The city is where the group’s founder, William Booth, established his first agricultural colony in 1891 to help people escape the deprivation of London’s East End.
Tenants have complained that they have been exposed to years of life with dangers, including the risks of fire, moisture and parasite infestation, according to an investigation by the Guardian and ITV News.
Presented with the findings of the investigation, the Salvation Army issued an “unreserved apology” and said it had now begun the process of researching properties and renovating empty homes as part of an emergency plan.
The local council, Castle Point, said it had already handed out notices of improvements to a number of properties at the Salvation Army in Hadley, forcing the charity to act.
Location map of Hadley, Essex
Tenants say property problems were documented for the first time in late 2014. Later, in 2018, the charity left up to 40 tenants with the impression that they were about to be evicted instead of paying for removal. of problems.
In 2019, a local environmental officer on Castle Point’s council wrote to the Salvation Army and described the charity’s work on the Hadley situation as a “dirty mess.” The letter said he identified “significant repairs to the Salvation Army’s property” in the neighborhood, including “first- and second-class hazards.”
The dangers of the first category are the most serious housing problems. These include risks of “death, permanent paralysis, permanent loss of consciousness, loss of limb or serious fractures”.
The Guardian and ITV News understand that conditions in tenants’ homes have not improved since the council warned three years ago.
The length of time the Salvation Army has failed to deal with complaints raises serious questions about the governance and behavior of one of the UK’s most popular charities. The Salvation Army receives donations and bequests from the public of more than £ 100 million a year and owns more than 1,700 residential properties, most of which are used by its own staff.
Last year, the charity announced that it was building a new headquarters for itself at a cost of £ 32 million. In Hadley, it owns about 40 houses, 26 of which are concentrated in the two most affected streets, Mount Zion and Seaview Terrace.
Steve Mackenzie, an independent fire safety expert who inspected a property for the Guardian and ITV News, said the building was a “fire trap” for a number of reasons. He said: “Inadequate fire detection. No CO2 detectors. There is no division of the roof from one apartment to another … We also have an electrical system, which at one point was condemned. And the list goes on. ”
He called the Salvation Army’s treatment of Hadley’s tenants “criminal, careless, [a] violation of the law, criminal negligence ”. He added: “The defects we see in legal violations are unforgivable. They are not allowed and they are delinquents by law. “
A second expert, Jeff Charlton, managing director of the environmental consulting firm Building Forensics, inspected a various Salvation Army property in Hadley and found mold on the wall next to the bed of a child with asthma.
Requests of tenants were ignored by the Salvation Army after complaints of moisture and mold – video
“All molds are a health risk,” he said. “There is no real excuse. People get sick or their health deteriorates by living in this property. The Landlord and Tenant Act is responsible for making the landlord compatible with health and safety … Of course [the landlord] is careless. ”
Peggy Jane Smith, a 38-year-old tenant with the Salvation Army in Hadley, whose property was found to pose a fire risk, said: “[The Salvation Army’s] behavior [has been] of a fraudulent landlord. It is very difficult to try to tell people this because it is not what people want to believe, but the unfortunate thing about the Salvation Army is that on the one hand they have their spiritual side, but on the other hand they act like difficult … nose, unscrupulous, capitalists ”.
Smith said he believes the charity aims to evict tenants in 2018. At a meeting with Hadleigh’s tenants in June, Alan Reed, managing director of the Salvation Army and its secretary of business administration, described the charity as “accidental landlord ‘.
He added: “Being a commercial landlord is not the goal of the Salvation Army. We really came across it by accident. ”
At the meeting, Reid repeatedly refused to guarantee that the Salvation Army – which is perhaps best known for its work with the homeless – would not evict its tenants.
Rebecca Harris, an MP from Castle Point, said she had been in meetings with the Salvation Army for several years to try to get all the property in good condition.
She said: “They kept making promises that did not come true. Ordinary members of the Salvation Army would be tired of realizing how incompetent their real estate department was.
“The biggest fear for the tenants and for me was that they would claim that the properties could not be repaired, they would demolish them and evict families. I kept pushing the Salvation Army to take over and get the job done, but they left the tenants waiting to get together, which was incredibly stressful for them.
The Salvation Army refused to offer any of its senior officials for an interview, nor did it explain why it took so long to begin resolving the issues. It says it planned to start work in 2020, but was postponed due to the pandemic.
The charity issued a statement in which Anthony Coteril, the charity’s territorial commander, said: “The condition of these houses is unacceptable. It is clear that we have disappointed the tenants of Seaview Terrace and Mount Zion and I am deeply sorry. Apart from an unreserved apology, I would like to offer assurance that we have been working for several months on an emergency action plan to bring these properties up to the right standard.
“Our tenants have a right to be angry, but with the help of our new property director, appointed in May 2021, we are confident that we are now taking urgent action to correct these mistakes. Further appointments of senior officials to manage the planned work will also support the improvement process. “
The charity added that its new plant would be funded by the proceeds from the sale of its old plant.
Add Comment