Residents of Grange Farm Estate, including single-parent families with young children, have raised concerns after receiving eviction notices on November 6th, requiring them to leave their homes by November 21st.
They claim there was no prior communication from Harrow Council about alternative accommodation or financial support, leading to fears of homelessness or relocation outside the borough.
The notices have particularly impacted families with children attending local schools. At a recent ward surgery, Labour Councillor Eden Kulig spoke with affected residents and raised an urgent question with Cllr Mina Parmar, Portfolio Holder for Housing, regarding the short notice given to two families with young children.
Cllr Mina Parmar apologised for the limited notice period but stated, “Nothing in Grange Farm is permanent.”
During the council meeting, Leader of the Council Cllr Paul Osborn intervened, citing GDPR risks, to prevent Cllr Parmar from answering in full. This move was criticised by Labour Councillors, including Cllr David Perry, Leader of the Labour Group, as being against usual protocol.
Cllr Eden Kulig, Shadow Portfolio Holder for Performance, Communications and Customer Services, commented: “It was really worrying to hear Grange Farm residents at our Councillor walk-in surgery this week describe how they were issued with unfair evictions by the council with two weeks’ notice, with no information about how or where they might be rehoused. This caused a great deal of anxiety and stress, particularly to those with young children settled in local schools.
“Residents should not be expected to pack up their lives and homes with two weeks’ notice when this estate redevelopment has been on the cards for months, and the council needs to pro-actively communicate with residents impacted by estate redevelopments with much more notice. The Conservative Council, claim they ‘always put residents first’ when in reality this appears to be a soundbite and headline grabber yet again.”
In response, a Harrow Council spokesperson stated: “We appreciate that living in temporary housing is a very difficult situation for any family. The lack of affordable accommodation across London forces councils to think creatively when looking at housing options for those people at risk of homelessness. It’s in this context that we’ve used vacant housing on the Grange Farm estate, which is being regenerated to provide more than 500 much-needed homes, including those for council social rent.
“We know that being served an eviction notice is distressing. Unfortunately, it is something we are legally obliged to do for phase 2 of the estate’s regeneration to go ahead. We’re offering support, including financial assistance, to these few families affected as we relocate them to alternative accommodation within the borough.”
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