Natasha Dyett

A SOCIAL housing tenant said she feels like she has been “abused” by her landlord in an ongoing 16-month fight against horrific living conditions.

Natasha Dyett, a trader at Archway Market, says she arranged a mutual property exchange from Woolwich to escape domestic abuse.

But after 16 months at the Archway Heights development, she feels Origin Housing has let her down.

Ms Dyett and her three sons arrived at the property on the first day to find the previous tenants’ furniture left all over the flat, animal faeces on the floor, holes in the walls and ceilings, damp and mould, and a central heating and hot water system that didn’t work.

Ms Dyett, who is asthmatic, said she had to enlist the help of housing union ACORN as she took her case to the industry ombudsman, which found the landlord to be in maladministration.

It ordered repair work and compensation to be paid to Ms Dyett.

Holes in ceilings and doors

But she still does not feel Origin has done enough and says a number of issues remain outstanding.

Her family were left without central heating for over a year, which she said still only works sporadically after being “fixed”.

There are also structural issues remaining across the flat, such as mould in her son’s bedroom.

Ms Dyett said that after legal action, she has been paid just over £3,000 in compensation so far, which she said feels like a “slap in the face” in relation to what the family had been through and the money she has spent sorting out issues.

The latest offering from Origin was just a further £350 and an apology.

Speaking to the Tribune, Ms Dyett said: “It’s been an absolute nightmare, that has caused me a lot of trauma, because I escaped domestic abuse to come and be safe near my family, because I’m born and raised in Islington.

“All that just to be gaslit and given the run-around and abused by my landlords, who have actually been ordered to complete all the repairs to the flat by tomorrow, but time and time again they just do nothing and ignore me.

“It makes me sick, because I know that even when I do finally get everything sorted, the fight is not over. There are issues across the whole block and other residents here have expressed their despondency to me because they feel helpless, like nothing can ever be done.”

She added: “It’s time for Origin to show some accountability and answer for their actions. They deserve to be shown up in public for the things they’ve done and continue to do.”

Acorn campaigners protest outside housing association Origin’s offices

Ms Dyett spent five years working as a social housing administrator for a tenant management organisation in Lambeth, and said she felt housing associations like Origin, which are independent of councils, are able to duck scrutiny and accounta­bility for their performance.

This view is shared by Dan Newcombe, the London branch organiser for ACORN, who is helping her to apply pressure on Origin and sort out the issues in her flat.

Together, they are also organising a block-wide campaign to resolve tenant issues with Origin.

Mr Newcombe said: “Although they claim to be not-for-profit, housing associations generally often have CEOs who are on roughly £100,000 a year. They often have millions of pounds in reserves, and so their status and lack of regulation leads to really bad standards, a big lack of accountability, and a big lack of ways that tenants can hold their associations to account.

“Cases like Natasha’s make me very angry that these things are allowed to happen, but give me motivation to get organised and begin campaigns with her and others in these situations.”

An Origin spokes­person said: “We are very sorry for the distress Ms Dyett and her family have experienced after moving into the property following a home swap with the previous tenant.

“The condition of the flat was not to the standard it should have been, and we didn’t then carry out required repairs in a timely way. We have paid the compensation ordered by the Ombudsman and a senior surveyor has met with Ms Dyett to agree a detailed repairs plan.

“We are committed to completing all required actions as quickly as possible.

“With regards to the block: following storm damage which affected external cladding, it was identified that we needed to complete remedial work.

“We await required approvals from the Building Safety Regulator before proceeding and continue to update residents regularly on progress.”