Residents of The Dene, a sheltered housing scheme in Rottingdean, Brighton, recently won their campaign after joining ACORN and getting organised!
Their landlord, Teacher's Housing Association, left 9 rooms empty for 18 months and threatened major cuts to food services. As well as this, there were concerns with accessibility, as well as an increased service charge.
ACORN demanded an immediate meeting with Teacher’s CEO, Devan Kanthasamy, and he quickly agreed.
On the day of the meeting, residents asked him face-to-face questions that had so far gone unanswered, and handed in a letter of their demands.
Facing a room full of organised residents, Devan agreed to all of the demands: that the 9 empty flats be brought back into use within 3 months, a meaningful consultation on the future of the kitchen, a commitment that no-one will be priced out by the service charge increase, and a ramp to improve accessibility installed within 3 weeks.
Resident Kathy said: "We've been trying to get this sorted for months, but the moment we joined ACORN, things started happening. Go ACORN!"
You can watch the fantastic campaign video, including interviews with residents, here.