COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

City Council will lease the building for £1.7m



Coventry council has agreed to enter into a lease for a high-rise tower block, to provide temporary accommodation for homeless people in the city.

The council is currently spending as much as £100 a night placing people into temporary accommodation such as hotels and bed and breakfasts.

It means the council has spent a huge £4.1m placing homeless people into temporary accommodation this year alone - nearly a 620 per cent increase on the £570,000 expenditure in 2013/14.

Around 350 families are living in B&Bs and temporary accommodation across the city - shockingly some for as long as to two-and-a-half years, Councillor Ed Ruane said.

That is despite the council being legally obliged find suitable accommodation for families with children who have been in bed and breakfasts for six weeks.

Cabinet member for housing Cllr Ruane outlined a plan to address the issue at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, which included entering into a five-year lease of Caradoc Hall in Caradoc Close, Henley Green.

The 17-storey high-rise block had a guide price of £2.6m when it went under the hammer in December 2017.

It was previously on the market for £4.2m.

It will cost the council £1.7m in rent - but this is a significant reduction on B&B and hotel costs.

Cllr Ed Ruane said on Tuesday: "This is not one one option we have got available to use.

"This would place 112 people in accommodation and save the council £1.2m each year.

"Having visited the B&Bs across Coventry the situation is that a lot of these kids are growing up in them, which is clearly not appropriate.

"Is it right and proper that we address that. It is also no secret that we are in discussion to build and buy our own houses."

The lease is be funded from the council's pre-allocated 2018/19 budget.

The lease could be signed by December, with the first properties available for use the same month or in January 2019.

The block was initially built by the council in 1965 before being sold to Coventry University for student accommodation in 1985, and then a private investor for £2million in 2008.

It includes space for 102 apartments, but the top two floors - consisting of a further 16 apartments - are currently tenanted and are not part of the deal, although the developers are in talks to acquire the additional apartments.

Compared to B&B accommodation, the deal will save £1.22m per year.

Opposition leader Cllr Gary Ridley said: "I absolutely support this. It makes perfect sense, and helps control the overspend."

Concerns raised about plans to use tower block to house vulnerable homeless families in Coventry



CONCERNS have been raised about Coventry City Council’s plan to use a tower block of flats to house vulnerable homeless families.

Local politician Ian Rogers claims the council should consider better options, and branded it a ‘shameless publicity stunt’.

And a long-time housing charity chief working with homeless people in the city, who did not want to be named, claims Caradoc Hall, Caradoc Close, Henley Green, would need massive investment to be made fit for temporary accommodation.

In response to the news, the charity worker said: “Caradoc Hall? One assumes there will therefore be an absolutely massive refurbishment, on-site staffing 24/7 and risk assessments for offers of accommodation.”

Commenting on the claim on Facebook, another poster added: “It’s the worst building I’ve ever seen in my life.

“And then to place such a large number of people with complex needs in to one building.

“I struggle to believe it’s fit for habitation and complies with health and safety.”

Mr Rogers, who grew up nearby, criticised the plans as nothing more than a ‘cost-saving exercise’.

The Coventry UKIP chairman said: “The proposal aims to save money by moving families out of B&B accommodation but does not set out any action to take rough sleepers off the streets contrary to popular opinion.

“It has also been reported recently that there are over 1,000 properties in Coventry which have been empty for six months or more.

“Why has the council not taken action to bring any of these properties back into use?”

Future tenants at Caradoc Hall would be expected to pay utility costs such as heating bills while rental costs will be paid by the Salvation Army and the council.

Plan to house homeless in Coventry tower block a year behind schedule



Plans to house homeless families in a Coventry tower block are a year behind schedule.

Councillors agreed last November for Coventry City Council to enter into a five-year lease of Caradoc Hall, in Henley Green, at a net cost of £1.7 million.

And they were told the 17-storey block could be signed and the building refurbished within a month, with the first of 102 properties available for use in December, or in January 2019.

Yet complications over the lease, refurbishment, and being unable to secure 26 privately owned rooms scattered in the building have led to huge delays.

There is some hope on the horizon though as a lease is finally expected to be agreed “in the coming weeks”.

However that will mean the first tenants will not move in until December – a whole 12 months after first expected.

Vulnerable families were left with no water on Christmas day

Vulnerable families spent Christmas Day without water after issues with the supply in part of a tower block.

Concerns have now been raised about ongoing issues with the water supply at Caradoc Hall after one resident claimed there was also no access to water in part of the building for several days in November and December.

CoventryLive understands that dozens of families moved into the tower block just before Christmas.

But on Christmas Day and into the early hours of Boxing Day, there was no running water in the upper floors of the building due to an issue with the pump. The water was working for a 'short time' on Boxing Day, but then went down again and wasn't fixed until Friday, December 27.

One concerned man said he saw women with young children having to take buckets of water up to the top floor so they could wash and feed their children.

It is understood the landlord opened up the empty flats at the bottom part of the building, where water was available, so that residents could wash.

Howard Smith, who lives in one of the privately owned flats within the building, said it was the second time in a month that the building had been without water.

“In November and December the water was off for 35 days,” he said.

This time around it was off for three days – but the burst pipe came at a time on Christmas Day when families would be celebrating with their children.

“I spoke to a lady on Christmas Day and she was so upset,” Mr Smith said.

"When you haven’t got running water there’s so much that’s affected. You can’t cook or clean or even flush the toilet. It’s so unfair for people with children, having to carry buckets up 16 floors to wash their babies.”

New lease to secure 103 temporary homes for the homeless in Coventry



Coventry City Council is likely to extend a lease on a property in Henley Green, providing 103 temporary homes for homeless people. Coventry has seen an increase in demand for temporary housing, with 1,329 households living in temporary accommodation as of September 2024.

The Housing Act 1996 imposes a statutory duty on local authorities to provide temporary accommodation to eligible homeless households with a priority need. The city's demand for this accommodation has increased by 102 percent since August 2022.

The report, which will be discussed by councillors, recommends a proposal to enter into a new lease between the council and Stef & Phillips for Caradoc Hall in Henley Green for 10 years.

Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, Cllr Naeem Akhtar, said: "We are doing everything we can to support vulnerable people who find themselves homeless. We have very few families in bed and breakfast accommodation, but the demand is increasing, so securing the lease on the properties in Caradoc Hall is important.

"We are also working on other cost-effective options to provide family homes, but it is a very challenging set of circumstances," he said.

Currently, there are no families in bed and breakfast accommodation. Bed and Breakfast facilities typically don't have cooking facilities and are often the most expensive temporary accommodation. The council says they are also the most 'inappropriate' form of temporary accommodation, especially for families with dependent children.

As part of the proposed lease agreement, the managing agent will commit to refurbishing the 103 flats in line with a condition survey agreed with the council and continued improvements to the building. Coventry City Council has also purchased 56 family properties for temporary accommodation and will be buying another 24 family temporary homes approved by Cabinet and a grant from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Currently, there are no families in bed and breakfast accommodation.