
Local Housing Authorities are finding themselves in almost-impossible situations when it comes to selling long-suffering tenants on the benefits of repairs and renovations.
Why are social housing tenants frightened about the possibility of renovation? They’re the ones suffering from rodent, leaks, faulty plumbing, etc, etc.
While public housing renovations are not exactly the same as ‘renovictions,’ they can in both theory and practice lead to the same thing: tenants turfed out of homes, only to find out they’ll never get back in again.
Certainly, local housing authorities may wish to reassure tenants that their tenancy is safe. But how often do they need to have their fingers crossed behind their backs?
HUD, the grudging dispenser of money for public housing refurbishment and repair, is heavily promoting private public partnerships which, without going into all the gory details, give private enterprise the opportunity to profit from a piece of the refurbishing action. But what ‘action’ is that?
Increasingly we’re talking about repairs and renovations that translate to either market rate housing or ‘affordable’ housing for higher income brackets in the middle class. It also means losing at least some of the truly affordable homes that so desperately need repair.
These days, local housing authorities have huge waiting lists. They can’t offer substitute housing to tenants who’ve lost their homes as part of a refurbishing project. No wonder existing tenants are afraid of the consequences.
Read more in The Guardian: ‘I Don’t Have Anywhere Else To Go’: Why Tenants Fear Renovation Of Neglected Public Housing