Branded as a landlord

Published: 1st April, 2011

• LAST week’s excellent letters from PJ Leamy and Richard Rosser genuinely voiced the opinion of most residents, and could not have come at a more opportune time (At mercy of landlord? March 25).

Having just ploughed through a copy of Homes for Islington’s latest multicoloured, self-propaganda leaflet (sorry, newsletter), I was, although disgusted, not at all surprised to see that HfI has been appointed to act as development agents for Islington Council. 

Remarkably, among other duties, it will be appointing contractors and overseeing building processes, from start to finish. 

Not bad for a private company with no track record in building, which only months ago we were promised would be closed down if Labour was voted in.

Equally irritating is HfI’s continual attempts to use this publication for blatant corporate branding, such as “Exciting news for Homes for Islington residents”, “Homes for Islington home-owners”, “Young HfI residents”, all of which are effectively designed to promote HfI as our “landlord”, which of course it is not. It is  merely a contractor appointed to manage Islington Council’s housing stock.

Unless, of course, it has exclusive knowledge of this council’s future proposals for HfI that we, as residents, are not privy to?

Predictably, I appear to be one of very few people who actually attended the Bemerton presentation last week, and although I have not to date seen any conspicuous evidence of HfI involvement in the proposals for that development, its future involvement would not come as a great surprise to me, especially since its newly acquired and somewhat oxymoronic title of “development agents” tends to suggest such a move is unfortunately inevitable.

A somewhat tantalising prospect that I am sure we all look forward to.
Dr BS Potter
Chairman,
Islington Leaseholders Association/Federation of Islington Tenants Associations