We call upon authorities to investigate HfW Housing Association and do everything necessary to ensure residents safety and well-being as our cries for help have been blatantly ignored for years. Residents from HfW have come together to express serious concerns that have been ongoing and ignored for years in relation to                                                                                                        

 

-Failures in safeguarding, supporting and helping victims of domestic abuse                                  

-Failures to follow policy and procedures relating to hate crime and ASB     

-Failures to meet the necessary fire safety procedures and precautions with significant failures, inaction and delays in fire safety                                            

-HfW being in breach of contract on the grounds homes are unfit for human habitation                  

-Failure to properly maintain and manage properties                                                                                          

-Failure to properly carry out remedial works, repairs and defects in a timely manner                        

-Multiple failings to provide safe accommodation                                                                                

-Failures to maintain and service electrical and gas safety                                            

-Significant number of residents exposed to risk of harm and residents safety not being a priority          

-Bullying, harassing, intimidating, discriminating and victimising residents who escalate complaints and threatening residents with eviction                                                                                              

-Failure to provide reports of FRA’s, cladding and repairs                                              

-Failure to properly communicate, adequately respond, investigate and take swift action regarding complaints                                                                                          

-Lack of transparency and lying to both authorities and residents                              

-Causing residents ill health                                                                                          

-Unreasonable and unjustifiable service charges despite evidence of the quality of maintenance, services and residents reports with many areas over many years in a state of disrepair, neglect and deterioration and failure to refund residents for the years over overcharges                                                                                                

-Failure to provide the service charges breakdown with the rent increase notification  

-Failure to make residents safety a priority and purposely ignoring serious fire safety and health and safety risks and putting residents at risk of injury and harm                  

-Failures in keeping staff for a reasonable time with a huge staff turnover                    

-Failures in data protection 

HfW have ruined many lives, with many residents concerns and complaints being ignored. Many buildings and homes are not affordable, safe, secure, warm or dry. And they certainly do not support or empower women. Residents are fed up with years of neglect, lies and excuses given by HfW. We have been saying enough is enough for years, with MP’s and councils fully aware but instead of things improving or changing they have gone from bad to worse.

While HfW happily post on social media for publicity, providing a false image in order to deflect and cover up their serious failings, us residents have been left to rot in poor quality and unsafe and dangerous homes. Many residents are victims of HfW, suffering years of having one of the worst and most dishonest, incompetent landlords who knowingly ignores serious H&S breaches and knowingly puts lives at risk. Many homes are in such a state of disrepair, that they’re deemed unfit for human habitation. Due to changes into legal aid and residents being unable to afford to take legal action, HfW use this to their advantage and blatantly ignore repairs, with many outstanding for years. They behave like they’re above the law and untouchable because those in authority have allowed them to get away with it.

Despite overwhelming evidence proving HfW’s failings, breaches, neglect and cover ups, those in authority and the government continue to turn a blind eye. They were warned of a serious fire and there have already been two serious fires which would have been avoided had authorities listened to residents concerns. It’s not a matter of if but when the next serious fire happens. Why does it have to take for fatalities for action to be taken when fatalities could be prevented if action is taken sooner? Residents have been left suicidal, hospitalised and even a death from suicide. Why isn’t mental health being taken taker seriously? Why isn’t domestic abuse being taken seriously? How many more lives need to be ruined, destroyed and shattered before action is taken?
So many residents have suffered with poor physical and mental health due to what HfW has put them through, due to living in poor quality homes, homes that are flammable death traps, while other serious fire safety issues are blatantly ignored. Residents have been left to rot in unfit, humiliating, degrading and unhealthy homes and no one is doing anything to help residents.

HfW have labelled us as the most deprived. It is HfW who has made us the most deprived, it’s them who has pushed more of us into debt and poverty. How can HfW be a domestic abuse charity when they ignore women, children and men suffering abuse? When they knowingly ignore the security of their buildings and homes and for years con residents with the CCTV that is either not operated or because it isn’t working? HfW have no empathy, no compassion, no respect, no morals, no dignity towards their residents.

Residents are so fed up to the point that they no longer feel they can carry on. HfW make it so hard for residents to follow through with complaints because management know how to make residents have enough and give up. There is no difference between HfW and perpetrators of abuse. The mental abuse HfW put residents through is worse than physical abuse. This needs to stop and investigated urgently and residents need to be taken seriously and listened to, with evidence not being ignored. There is such a toxic and hostile environment both in the office of HfW and within the properties they run.

We urge authorities to act now, investigate and either take away HfW’s charity status and give it to those who are experienced and capable of being a social housing landlord and ban those now running HfW from ever working with vulnerable women and children again. Either hand residents back to the councils for rehousing or watch the numbers of many more women, men and children’s mental health decline and suffer. And who knows how many more fires. 

There are many other issues and over time, each issue will be given more details in the updates. If you are a resident feel free to leave a comment and how your life has been affected by HfW. In 2018, HfW deleted all the reviews from google and since then they have continued to report and have more reviews removed. We recommend you take a snapshot of your review and check google a week later when you’re signed out of your account to see if it’s been removed. Keep a diary, picture and video evidence of everything and on,y communicate in writing, via email. Contact your MP and the council. Request a copy of your files by making a SAR Subject Access Request. If you live in a building with cladding, request all the reports on the cladding tests carried out and also copies of the FRA Fire Risk Assessment.