Hyde Housing: Bellevue Mansions ITRA

Wednesday 8th of May 2024

Hello and welcome to The Tpas ITRA website for Bellevue Mansions

We are glad you stopped by and hope you find the information on this page useful.

Our aim is to provide independent advice about the proposals for this to all affected residents.  We recognise this may be a stressful time for people and we are here to help.

Want to know more? ……. Read on

So what is an ITRA? What does it do and why do we have one for Bellevue mansions residents?

ITRA stands for Independent Tenants and Resident Advisor

An ITRA is an independent organisation that provides independent advice to tenants and residents who are being affected by significant housing proposals they may be affected by.

In the case of Bellevue Mansions our involvement is in relation to the proposals for redevelopment of the estate involving the proposed demolition of Bellevue mansions. We understand that all affected residents have been informed about these proposals and that they will be consulted on them by Hyde.

Under the Major of London’s guidelines for these kind of proposals an ITRA has to be appointed by the landlord to provide residents with independent advice on how the proposals could affect them, their rights and how consultation will be conducted.

Tpas has over 30 years of providing advice to residents and all our staff are experienced housing professionals. 

So what will Tpas as your ITRA do?

The Major of London’s Guidelines also say that any proposals which involve redevelopment and demolition have to have the approval of the majority of affected residents in a ballot. This is the case for Bellevue Mansions.

So Hyde have to draw up a detailed proposal for residents to vote on in a yes or no ballot.

This will detail what’s proposed and how it will affect all residents in terms of their homes, rehousing, compensation and what the estate redesign will look like and involve.

Hyde will be consulting with residents on the proposals in the next few months on what they propose and aim to have a ballot in December 2024. Please note this date is only a provisional one but we don’t think it will be any earlier than this,

Our job will be to:

• Give advice to all affected residents on what the proposals could mean for them, what their rights are, what compensation they can expect and how the consultation process will work as well as answer any questions they may have.  We won’t advise you how to vote but we do aim to make sure you are well informed when you do.
• Make sure that all information by given to residents by Hyde or other stakeholders is accurate, easy to understand and comprehensive and that Hydes consultation process includes everyone.
• Advise and support your resident representatives when they discuss the redevelopment proposals that residents will vote upon with Hyde.
• Liaise with Hyde on any issue that residents raise with us or that independently we think need to be considered. (Please note that feedback on all issues raised with us will be given anonymously to Hyde unless we have the resident’s permission to share their name or address.)

So, what does this mean in practice?

You will probably see us out and about on the estate knocking on doors to get people’s views or visiting people in their homes to give them advice.

A lot of our work will be responding to people on the telephone, via zoom or via email so this won’t be as visible.

You may see us at any consultation events on the estate and we might also do our own meetings or drop-in sessions.

If you decide to get involved with more in depth consultation with Hyde, via the residents steering group or other similar things, you will see us at those meetings and doing other support work with resident representatives.

You will also see occasional updates from us posted through your door as well as on other social media that normally gives information to you.

We will also be putting regular information and briefings on this website as well.

So hopefully this at least gives you an idea of the kind of things we will be doing.

Its worth stressing that our role as the ITRA is to ensure that people have access to the right kind of independent information and advice to help them make an informed decision on the proposals

So how can you get in touch with us?

Getting in touch with your ITRA

You can get in touch with us in the following ways:

Freephone: 0800 731 1619 

Email: bellevueresidentadvisor@tpas.org.uk

We will then contact to arrange to speak to you either on the phone or in person or however you prefer.

As well as getting in contact you can tell a member of the Hyde team that you would like to speak to us and we will be in touch or if you see us out and about on the estate or at an event just say hello and we will be happy to talk to you. 

We will also have this website that you can go to where we will be posting regular information about the project, answers to questions we are frequently asked by residents and useful information we think people may wish to know, in terms of their rights and options. It will also have information about how you can get involved in consultation activities. 

We have put the link for the website below just so you can copy it if you want to

https://www.tpas.org.uk/our-projects/hyde-housing-belle-vue-mansions-itra

We will be regularly updating our website so we would advise visiting it regularly to see what is new.

In any event if you have any questions, concerns, would like advice or just a chat just get in contact with us and we will be in touch, usually within 24 hours

We are just getting started!

Having been appointed In May 2024 we are now busy gathering all the information we can.

Our first priority is to speak to as many residents we can in Bellevue Mansions to find out what they are thinking and feeling about the project and get an idea of the questions, concerns and the issues that are important to them.  We want to do this as soon as we can and to get to know the residents who are affected.

So, we are proposing to do some door knocking in the last 2 weeks in May and early June to try to speak to as many people as we can. So please listen out for us door knocking! We will have Tpas photo ID so you know its us.

However, if a particular time or date is better for you or you would just like to speak to somebody by phone or Zoom, Skype etc just ring our freephone number to tell us (0800 731 1619)

In the weeks to come we will try to post more information we think may be helpful about the project itself and our responses to the questions people are putting to us.

A bit about Tpas

We are an independent Housing Organization that is dedicated to ensuring that the voice of resident is heard and acted upon and have been active in this field for over 30 years.

As well as lobbying for this, we have many resident and landlord members across the country who we work with to help improve resident engement across the sector. This involves policy and practice briefings, news updates, good practice papers and training.

As part of these activities, we provide independent advice services across the country. Over the years we have worked with the sector on developing good practice in this area and have our own independent advisors code. Below you can find a link to our Independent Advisor good practice guide, and you can find more information about what we do on our website.

You can find out what to expect from us at your Independent Tenant and Leaseholder Advisor by reading our Good Guide to ITA.

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(A) Estate door knock: Did you see us on the estate?

In late May as promised we did an initial door knock on the estate to introduce ourselves to residents, get to know people a little and understand what they think about Hyde’s proposals.

It was nice to meet people at Bellevue Mansions and we’d like to thank everybody who spoke to us.

We found that:

• People did not have much confidence in Hyde as they were not happy with the service they had been receiving
• People did not really seem clear on what was being proposed and why
• There was a mixed response from residents on the condition of their homes and many were not sure about alternative proposals
• People were not sure about the role of Tpas and our relationship to Hyde

We understand that the prospect of the regeneration is unsettling, and that people have enough going on in their lives without having something else to think about.

But our main aim is to help the residents understand what’s going on, make sure their interests are being considered properly and that we help people to be able to vote on the proposals with confidence.

So we hope with time we can get to know everyone in Bellevue Mansions and people can see we are independent and trustworthy.

(B)Why should you trust Tpas? Our role explained 

In London. any proposal to demolish social homes like yours requires a ballot of residents before going ahead.

The same regulations say that an independent resident advisor must be appointed to advise residents on how the proposals could affect them, on any negotiations with the landlords for proposals they put forward and also on the ballot process. We are also there to check that any information that is sent to residents is accurate, comprehensive and not misleading.

The landlord is required to cover the cost of our services, but we act independently, and the landlord does not tell us what to say. Our messages and communications are our own.

To be clear we have no view on. or preference for, which way residents vote on the proposals. Our only concern is that everyone is clear on what the proposals mean for them so they can make an informed decision on how they vote.

(C) Why is getting advice from Tpas important?

As a Bellevue Mansions resident, the regeneration proposals have the potential to significantly affect you

At its most basic:

• If Hyde go ahead with the regeneration proposal, your home will be demolished which will mean that you will have to move home
• If Hyde don’t go ahead with their regeneration proposals you will remain in your home and there will be significant refurbishments done to Bellevue Mansions which will affect you to a greater or lesser extent.

So the important issues for any resident about the redevelopment proposals are;

• What do they mean for me?
• What will be the effect of the proposals?
• What is the proposed timescale?
• What is the reason for the proposals? What has prompted them?
• How will whether the proposals go ahead be decided?
• What are the timescales for the process and how long would any redevelopment take?

Important issues If demolition goes ahead are

• What are my rights?
• Where will I be moved to?
• When would I have to move?
• What choice will I have on where I live?
• Will I be able to move back to the estate?
• Will my personal, family and employment needs be considered?
• Will I receive any compensation?
• How long will this all take?
• What’s the process?
• Will my housing and quality of life be better or worse after this takes place?

Important issues to consider if the regeneration and demolition does not go ahead:

• What will happen to the regeneration proposals? Is that the end of redevelopment for Bellevue Mansions?
• What refurbishment works will be done to the Bellevue Mansions building as a whole and to my home?

This is not meant to be a complete list but hopefully does give an indication of the kind of issues that are important for residents and the kind of questions that they may have. Also, the answers to some of the questions may be different depending on if you are;

• A Hyde tenant,
• A Leaseholder
• A Tenant of a private landlord

(Please see our next section called ‘So What Do I Need To Know’ for more information about how things may differ depending on your tenure.

As we understand it, Hyde have given you answers to some of these questions already in communications and meetings and there will be a proposal document from them which will also talk about these issues prior to residents voting on the proposals.

Our role at Tpas is to be an independent body you can trust to answer any questions you have  

(D) So how could the proposals affect you?

This depends on if you are a Hyde tenant, a leaseholder or a tenant of a private landlord.

If you are a Hyde tenant

If you are a Hyde tenant and your home is to be demolished at the basic level,

• You are entitled to be rehoused in what is called suitable alternative accommodation which takes into account your housing needs and where you need to live.
• You are not entitled to a home exactly the same as the one you live in now but one that the landlord says is suitable for a household of your type and your local needs (e.g. need to be close to schools, employment, relatives etc).
• You can choose to move permanently off the estate or move to temporary accommodation and return to a newly built property on the estate. The standard of the temporary accommodation must be of the same standard as what you would be offered in a permanent move.
• You are also entitled compensation for losing your home, called Home Loss at the moment this is £8100. This only paid once, and the amount is regularly reviewed by government and so can change. It was last reviewed In October 2023. You can also claim disturbance compensation for any reasonable cost associated with moving home once or twice (if you wish to return).
• You are entitled to keep the same tenancy rights as you had before. So, if you currently still have a right to buy, for example, you will still retain this in any new property.

All this will be covered in the proposal from Hyde. However, the above is just your basic legal entitlement and often the landlords go beyond this to make proposals attractive and the processes user friendly.

If residents reject the proposals, you need to know what happens then in terms of what refurbish works will be carried out by Hyde to improve your home and what will these involve.

Currently Hyde say on their website that refurbishment means updating various components of the buildings, including electrics, heating system, insulation etc, to bring it up to required modern standards. What this means in practice, and the level of the works involved, will need to be looked at in more detail as part of upcoming consultation.

So that’s just a flavour of the issues for tenants and hopefully shows why we think it is worth people getting involved in the consultation on proposals and understanding what is in the proposals themselves before they vote.

Leaseholders

If you are a leaseholder and your home is to be demolished (after the ballot), the issues you need to think about are:

• The guiding principle for landlords is to treat leaseholders fairly and to fully compensate them for any losses they may incur because of their home being demolished and them having to move to a new home.
• What kind of financial offer will I get for my property?  This is usually market value before demolition was announced. The valuation is done by an independent qualified valuer appointed by the landlord. You can however appoint your own qualified valuer which the landlord will pay for. Both have to follow the same valuation guidelines.
• What help can I get with selling my property and getting a new one? Landlords often do offer some advice and support to leaseholders here.
• Getting other accommodation and eligibility for social housing? Usually, leaseholders will not be eligible for social housing or emergency accommodation from Hyde or the council, but it depends on circumstances.
• Will I be able to return to the estate and buy one of the new build homes for sale? Landlords should offer leaseholders the opportunity to buy a home on the new estate and offer them a fair deal in respect of these new homes. More generally landlords can consider any other ways they can support resident leaseholders to acquire a new home on the open market, but this is at the landlord’s discretion.
• Will I get compensation for losing my home? What about moving costs? Leaseholders living in their property are legally entitled to home loss compensation of 10% of the valuation of their property (This is currently a minimum of £8100 up to a maximum of £81,000). In addition, they are entitled to compensation to cover all reasonable costs associated with moving. This includes costs of selling the home and stamp duty etc alongside normal home moving costs.
• (It should be noted that a leaseholder who is not resident in their property but has had an interest in it for over 12 months (usually a landlord) may be entitled to a ‘basic loss payment’ of 7.5% of the agreed value of their property with a ceiling of £75,000. In addition, they are entitled to claim reasonable disturbance costs).

Again, the above is really the basic position and the landlord has some discretion. So, it’s important for leaseholders to understand what is in the proposal document, even if they do not support demolition plans, as if there is a vote in favour then they will be subject to those proposals. For the same reason we think it’s important for leaseholders to get involved in shaping the proposals to be voted on.

If there is a vote against the proposed demolition, then Hyde have said on their website that they will look to refurbish the properties which they have said will mean carrying out repairs to bring the homes up to current building standards. On their website it says that by refurbishment of the building they mean “updating various components of the building including electrics, heating system, insulation etc to bring it up to required modern standards” They also say that “refurbishment works are expensive, and leaseholders would have to contribute to the cost of this work”

So, in our view it’s important for leaseholders to understand what refurbishment works would entail and the likely cost of these when considering the proposals and again another reason we would advise them to get involved in the consultation process.

Tenants of private landlords living in properties likely to be demolished

Unfortunately, as tenants of private landlords you have less rights and protections than tenants of Hyde. You do not have the right to be rehoused or a right to return to a newly built property.

You are entitled to go on the Lambeth’s housing register as you will be made homeless by the demolition. However, your entitlement to social housing will be assessed based upon your circumstances as will your priority. Most landlords will offer support to tenants of private landlords to apply get on the housing register.

If a tenant of a private landlord in Bellevue Mansions has been on the council housing register for over 12 months from the date the landlord proposals are published, they will be eligible to vote on the proposals. If they have not however, the regulations state they will not be eligible to vote.

But again, what we are describing is the minimum position and landlords do have some discretion in terms of what they can do to help private residents. Equally though, given the demand for affordable housing in the area, this support can be limited in scope.

So again, we would advise all tenants of private landlords on the estate to get involved in consultation on the proposals, ask Hyde what support it will be providing to private tenants and establish if they will be eligible to vote when Hyde give more details on the eligibility rules.

More information for residents

This section is to give people an idea of the different things they need to think about depending on if they are a Hyde tenant, a leaseholder or a tenant of a private landlord

When more information on the regeneration proposals come out for consultation, we will provide more details and again when the proposals are finalised. To help residents, we will provide a detailed breakdown of what these mean and what questions residents may want to ask.

If  you have any questions you would like to ask just give us a call on 0800 731 1619 or email us on bellevueresidentadvisor@tpas.org.uk 

We will also be doing a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) section shortly based on things that residents have asked us or we know may be a concern for them. So please have a look at this as it may cover a question you have.

(E) How will residents be consulted on regeneration proposals?

As part of this process the landlord must draw up proposals for the residents to vote on.

Best practice and the housing regulator expect the landlord to make every effort to consult the residents on these proposals to get their views.

The landlord is also expected to draw up their proposals with resident representatives via a residents’ steering group.

This is basically a negotiating group where resident representatives try to ensure what is being offered gives residents the best option for them. The steering group also looks at what a no vote will mean, and this is fair in terms of the landlord's management and miantenance responsbilities. 

Our role in steering group meetings is to advise steering group members on the content of what is being said, its accuracy and their options.

(We would advise any interested resident to get involved in the steering group if they can, as it has a lot of influence on deciding on proposals and the general consultation process.)

As was said above we will also be monitoring the communications to check they are accurate and the consultation process to see it is as inclusive as it can be. The steering group is also consulted on communications as well.

The ballot will be happening! 

So, whether you are in favour of proposals or not or just don’t know, Hyde will be balloting Bellevue Mansions residents on their proposals for demolition and regeneration.

As a resident you will be able to vote on these and they can only proceed if a majority of the residents who vote, vote in favour of them.

So the most basic thing is to make sure you do vote as the decision will be based on a straight vote of those who do. So not voting will mean you are leaving the decision to others.

Apart from voting, you do not need to do anything else and do not need to take part in any consultation activities or read any literature. All you need to know is when and how to vote. We think this will be in early 2025, but this is just an estimate.

However, we do not advise taking this approach. As a minimum we would advise that you read the proposal document when it comes out so you understand what you are being asked to vote on and how it will affect you.

We would also advise that if you can, you try to get involved in consultation on the proposals so you can help shape them. You can also ask questions about what happens if there is a no vote and help shape this as well.

In any event you are not individually in control of the outcome, so we think it is important that you try to have as much say in the proposals as possible. Of course, it’s up to you. We are here to help you however much or little you want to be involved in the process.

Who can vote on the proposals?

The Mayor of London’s guidelines say the following on which residents in the affected area are eligible to vote.

• Any affected social housing tenant whose name is on the tenancy agreement of their home.
• Any affected leaseholder whose name is on their lease agreement and who has been resident in their property at least 12 months before the proposal document that people will vote on is published by the landlord.
• Any other affected resident who has been on the council’s housing register for 12 months prior to the offer document that people are asked to vote on is published by the landlord. (This means that if you are a tenant of a private landlord, you will only be able to vote if you have been on the council housing register for this 12-month period).

There is no limit to how many people can vote from the same household provided they meet the eligibility criteria above. People can only vote once, and you have to be over 16 to vote.

The Hyde proposal document or related documents will detail voting eligibility and specify who is entitled to vote when its issued, but this is our understanding of the regulations as they are currently applied in London.

 

(F) So how can I get involved? What happens next?

To draw up its proposals, Hyde need to consult residents on;

• Proposed designs for the regeneration of the estate
• How the process will work for residents in terms of rehousing options and compensation
• Their current circumstances and rehousing preferences
• What is proposed if residents vote against the proposals

This usually involves the landlord;

• Running consultation events and meetings on different elements of the proposals to get resident feedback. This may also involve sending out documents and surveys as well
• Working with a resident steering group to look at feedback from residents and develop the proposals for residents
• Doing home visits to find out about people’s circumstances and move preferences 

Consultation on the Landlord Proposal will be starting soon

As we understand it Hyde have already held some consultation events and sent out information to residents on what’s proposed generally. This started In October 2023.

Hyde have also had staff calling door-to-door to talk to residents and conducting a housing needs survey to get a picture of residents’ current circumstances.  As we understand from Hyde, they have only had a 50% response to these surveys.

We anticipate this consultation will continue to keep people informed on progress and we also expect it to become more focused on elements that are likely to be in the proposal document to get people’s views and preferences. We anticipate there be specific consultation and information on its contents and any related issues such as how the ballot will be conducted and who is eligible etc.

When the offer document is finalised, there will also be more information on the ballot process itself and who is eligible. At the moment, it looks like any ballot on the proposals will be in early 2025.

If residents support the regeneration proposals (i.e. vote yes) then work on regeneration will probably start in 3 to 4 years’ time and discussions will start with residents on estate designs and moving home.

If people don’t support the proposals (i.e. vote no) work will start on consulting residents on refurbishment of the existing property.

So, we would urge all residents to get involved in the consultation process as your feedback will play an important part in shaping them as well as helping you understand the detail of what is being proposed or considered. If you don’t take part, you won’t be able to input into the proposals and potentially affect them.  You also will not have the opportunity to get answers to things you want to know or issues that are important to you from the Hyde staff working on the project.

We would also encourage people to take part in the housing needs survey. These are a common element of processes like this and are seen as best practice by the housing regulator. Their purpose is to understand people’s most up-to-date circumstances to ensure their needs are properly met in any move and understand any issues people currently face in their homes. If people do not complete a housing needs survey with Hyde it will not stop the ballot on the proposals going forward, but it will mean the landlord will not have all the information they need to match people properly to new housing if residents vote in favour of regeneration.

As we have said throughout, we would also urge residents to get involved with the resident steering group if they can, as this will be an important group the landlord will discuss its proposals with. It is our experience that residents who do become steering group members have a significant ability to shape proposals and consultation about them. We would also urge residents to attend any consultative or briefing meetings or events Hyde are running for residents, as well as complete any surveys sent out to residents. This is because the landlord has to consider all feedback it receives on its proposals.

What will Tpas be doing as part of this consultation ?

When consultation starts, we will be attending events, proving independent and confidential  individual advice to residents, looking at documents and supporting the steering group.

More immediately we would like to talk to every resident at Bellevue Mansions individually to:

• Get their views on the refurbishment
• Get a better idea of their circumstances and concerns
• Answer any questions they have

From our point of view, we want to make sure we have as good a picture as possible of resident issues and circumstances so we can represent resident interests as effectively as possible.

We also want to make sure that everyone understands their rights, how the process might affect them, and what they are entitled to expect in terms of housing, consultation and compensation. 

Any information you give to us will be treated in strictest confidence and we will only pass on any individual information to Hyde with your permission.

We are experienced in providing independent resident advisor work, but every project is different. So, we can’t promise to have answers to every question immediately, but what we can promise is we will find out the answers for you if we don’t know.

What’s next from Tpas?

We are planning to contact every resident to arrange to talk to them individually by phone or face to face if they prefer. So, you will hear from us soon.

(Just for your information it is normal practice for independent advisors to be given resident contact details as we need these to carry out our role effectively. We have signed a data protection agreement with Hyde, and we are subject to the same data protection rules as Hyde In terms of confidentiality.

If there are any dates that are more convenient for you, or any particular time that suits you (even if this is in the evening or weekend) just ring us on our freephone or email to let us know.

After we have spoken to as many people as we can individually, we are happy to hold a meeting with residents locally with just us present to discuss peoples’ concerns and answer questions. If you are interested in this, please let us know when we contact you or again by emailing or telephoning us.

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