Residents evacuated from Bristol’s oldest tower block over safety fears are ‘still being asked to pay rent’

• Up to 400 people were forced to leave homes in Barton House last week 
• Mayor Marvin Rees says council is fulfilling its legal duty to house them 

Some of the residents evacuated from Bristol’s oldest tower block over safety fears are ‘still being asked to pay rent’ while they are being holed up in a hotel. 

Up to 400 people were forced to leave their homes at Barton House last Tuesday when a survey raised there was a ‘risk to the structure’ of the 15-storey building.

Pictures showed gloomy-faced people wheeling their possessions in suitcases and boarding a bus after Bristol City Council asked residents to leave ‘immediately’. 

Of the 98-homes in the tower block, 94 were evacuated. Four were found to be empty. 

Of those who left, 67 are now living in the Holiday Inn in the city centre, thirteen have gone to live with friends and family while the other fourteen have ignored the council’s pleas and returned to their homes. 

Up to 400 people were forced to leave their homes at Barton House last Tuesday when a survey raised there was a ‘risk to the structure’ 

Pictures showed gloomy-faced people wheeling their possessions in suitcases after Bristol City Council asked residents to leave ‘immediately’

It has now emerged those living in the Holiday Inn will still have to fork out on rent payments despite being forced out, whereas it is claimed those staying with friends and family will get a reprieve. 

READ MORE: Bristol tower block sees 400 residents evacuated after major structural problems are discovered in the 15-storey building

The Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees says displaced people in hotels would still have to pay because the council was legally fulfilling its duty to house them.

Housing officers and support staff are working with the residents on other issues like the utilities bills they would still be incurring too.

‘I’ve talked to a couple of residents,’ he said. ‘In terms of those in the hotels, they are (being charged rent) at the moment, but we’re being very empathetic about that.

‘But at the same time we are providing accommodation, food and services for people.

‘Talking to the residents who have fed back as well, on bills, we have done a bit of outreach to the utilities companies to say “if you have customers who are residents of Barton House, please reach out and offer some flexibility to them as well”, we’re obviously trying to wrap ourselves around people’s challenges.’

It is feared people won’t be able to return to their homes until December at the earliest.

Residents were seen boarding a bus before they were transported. Of the 94 homes which were evacuated, 67 have been housed in the city centre’s Holiday Inn 

The Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees says displaced people in hotels would still have to pay because the council was legally fulfilling its duty to house them

Surveys conducted at Barton House on Cotton Mill Lane found there was a ‘risk to the structure’ of the 15-storey building

Initially some residents were housed in a temporary rest centre at the Tawfiq Masjid & Centre mosque, where beds, food and drink were made available

Some Barton House residents are members of tenants union ACORN Bristol who has asked for a rent pause or for November’s rent to be reimbursed as part of five demands to the council.

The union has called for an independent investigation into what happened at the tower block amid other requests the residents are re-housed locally, compensated, and support for the mental health and childcare for all those affected. 

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said more formal discussions with residents about the situation with rent payments for the flats in Barton House had not yet taken place, as the council was prioritising sorting out issues around the emergency hotel accommodation first. 

Some residents were left unimpressed at the the time of the evacuation, with one telling ITV News: ‘The only thing I knew is I received a message on Facebook saying there is something wrong in Barton Hill. My flat has been bad for two to three months- leaking leaking leaking, half of the ceiling just came away – literally about a month ago.

‘I’ve been trying to get in touch with the council leaving messages – nothing. It’s rotten from bottom to top – damp, mould, everybody’s got it.

‘This place should have been knocked down years ago. I don’t know what’s going on. I haven’t got a clue.’

The council said there is ‘no evidence’ that the issues affecting the block of flats, which was built in 1958, are present elsewhere in the estate. 

MailOnline has contacted Bristol City Council and the mayor’s office for further comment. 

Source: Read Full Article