Yesterday evening, our building’s fire alarm was triggered by a burnt pizza and once again, there was no safe or legal way to turn it off. This isn’t the first time this has happened. It’s part of an ongoing pattern of neglect by Southern Housing, and it’s putting lives at risk.

I followed the instructions posted by Southern Housing on the communal board and got through to their administration team — who told me, “it’s not our responsibility” and hung up on me instead of stepping in to deal with the issue they are responsible for, they would apparently rather waste the fire brigade’s time.

In the end, we had to beg the fire station across the road to help us. The fire crew told us that we’d need to call 999 due to the housing association’s lack of protocol — but this is exactly the kind of thing that should never require emergency services in the first place!

This is not a one-off. Since I moved in, the fire brigade has been called out dozens of times, mainly due to faulty wiring installed by Southern Housing, including a period where they were attending almost daily. Even after the fire department  complained to Southern Housing, nothing has changed.

This is a clear failure in duty of care — and it’s costing emergency services thousands of pounds while taking these heroes away from real emergencies where lives are on the line!

Please keep signing and sharing this petition. The more voices we gather, the more pressure we put on Southern Housing, other housing associations, the Regulator, and those in power to take this seriously.

Emergency services are not your backup plan — they’re here to save lives. It’s time Southern Housing are held accountable.

Thank you for your continued support,

Antonia Wall