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Tenants left in the dark

Date published: 03 February 2010

Tenants living at Barnes Meadow, Littleborough are being left in the dark by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH).

RBH has decided to make the main lounge window in the council bungalows on the Barnes Meadow estate smaller. It is understood this will make the main living space much darker, so much that it would be necessary to put on a light in order to read. Around 40 of the tenants have signed a petition asking RBH not to do this.

The tenants gave the petition to Paul Rowen MP but they say he told them that, despite speaking to the leader of the Council, RBH still intend to go ahead with these alterations, in spite of the objections by so many of the tenants.

Paul Rowen MP said: “I have visited and spoken to the local residents and have backed them in their campaign. A lot of them have told me that by replacing the large windows they will lose a lot of natural light into their homes. I believe RBH could have shown more flexibility in dealing with issue and listened more to what the residents themselves wanted.”

Ian Adshead, Head of Asset Management at RBH said: "RBH is responding to ongoing complaints from a number of tenants regarding the heat loss experienced through the large windows. The revised design is being proposed to improve the thermal efficiency of the relevant properties and assist tenants with reducing the cost of heating their homes.

"A pilot scheme is scheduled to commence next week to reduce the size of the front window to one of the properties. This is taking place with full agreement from the tenant.

"All tenants whose homes may be affected will be invited to inspect and comment upon the completed pilot scheme."

Comments

The blocking off of half the windows in the lounge of these bungalows will also restrict the tenants view, it is mainly elderly people living in the properties, some of them less able to get out and about and rely on the floor length window to see the outside world.
This will isolate them even more.

So much for consultation!

I could understand replacing non-standard windows with standard windows.
Surely these windows must have been authorised when the properties where built, due to the fact that daylight was essential in these rooms.
Paul Rowen should tell his party to stop penny pinching, they actually employ Rochdale Boroughwide Housing.

I understand that sunlight helps the body to produce vitamin “D” which helps to avoid brittle bones, heart attacks and other medical problems.
If these council properties are occupied by older residents then the more light which they receive the better.
In any event, you would have thought that any good landlord would have consulted the tenants before imposing such changes in the properties.