Anonymous Southern Housing Tenant I sleep till 3pm, 5pm in the afternoon, wishing away my day. Othertimes sleep doesn’t come at all, thoughts, conversations, emails whirl aroundin my head. All I smell is damp, dank mould and I cough feeling as if I cannot breathe. And I scream an inward scream for sleep because I…
Tag: southern housing
Southern Housing: destroying homes at any cost
Grace L and Merlin Betts On 12 February Lucie Lambourne’s mother was murdered in their family home in Bexhill. The man arrested for the crime has pleaded not guilty and awaits trial in August. But as the results of this tragedy continue to unfold, Southern Housing wants to take Lucie’s family home, and sell it…
Sheltered accommodation in a building site?
Simon Lee, secretary of Hastings Area Southern Housing Tenants’ Association, describes the chaos unfolding as Southern Housing repair Bevin Court so it can be demolished. Shirley lives a quiet life on the tenth floor. She loves her neighbours and often has her meals with Jennifer and Brian who live a few floors lower. Their support…
News in Brief – Hastings Independent 275 – 25/04/2025
Merlin Betts News in brief involves a Hex journalist summarising the news displayed in another local media outlet for that week or fortnight. The summaries will likely include personal comments and additional research not present in the original article. If you don’t like that, well, you were warned. Last week’s news in brief was covering…
Diary of a Four Courts Tenant
Sharon Moore writes about the upheaval and mixed emotions surrounding Southern Housing’s sudden demolition announcement. Four courts or not Four Courts? That is apparently not the question. Imagine our surprise when, Tuesday 18 February, with no prior notice or consultation, everyone in Bevin Court had a pamphlet pushed through the door telling us, they –…
HASHTA Hacked by Southern Housing
Andrea Cowhig, Treasurer of Hastings Area Southern Housing Tenants Association (HASHTA) recalls how the tenants’ association started, discusses Southern Housing’s ongoing miscommunications and contradictions, and recounts her battle with damp and mould. So, my journey first started when I saw Southern Housing Action which was an online community for tenants of Southern Housing that have had…
Voices of Southern Housing: The New Team for Ignoring Damp and Mould
Joanne Davidson, Chair of Hastings Area Southern Housing Tenants Association (HASHTA) writes about her frustrating experience trying to get repairs carried out in her Southern Housing home. The problems started with my kitchen as far back as 2006 when 1066 (as it was at the time) replaced the kitchen. You could see damp issues when…
Voices of Southern Housing: A Day in the Life – Royal Terrace
A tenant at Royal Terrace – preferring to remain anonymous – discusses living conditions there. On the back of the release of the bone-chilling statistics that one in 64 are homeless in Hastings, it can seem a little churlish to complain about problems with any landlord. And throw in the pitiful availability of housing stock…
Voices of Southern Housing: Four Courts – the Loss of an Icon
Simon Lee, secretary of Hastings Area Southern Housing Tenants’ Association, reflects on the living situation in a local housing association estate. Anyone who has lived in the Four Courts will know that the most frequently asked question of anyone is ‘how long have you been here’? When I arrived just over a year ago, I…
What future for the Four Courts?
Grace L. Image: tenants’ protest July 2024 One Tuesday morning in February, tenants in the Four Courts flats in Hollington got a hand delivered letter inviting them to a meeting the very same day with their landlord, Southern Housing. The meeting would be about moving them out of their homes within a year. The whole…