Water pouring through ceiling lights and mouldy conditions are unacceptable for tenants of Uttlesford District Council flats which should be condemned, say Stansted councillors

The state of Uttlesford District Council’s (UDC) housing stock in Stansted has been labelled “despicable” by angry councillors.

The quartet who represent the village on UDC – Conservatives Ray Gooding and Nick Church and Liberal Democrats Alan Dean and Geoffrey Sell – have united in protest at the authority’s failure to properly maintain its Manor Road block of flats.

And work at another property on the Mountfitchet estate by UDC’s housing maintenance contractor, Norse, had resulted in blocked access to another house.

At Stansted Parish Council’s meeting last Wednesday (Oct 2), members agreed on a vote of no confidence in UDC leader Cllr Petrina Lees, the portfolio holder for housing Cllr Arthur Coote and chief executive Peter Holt.

MP Kemi Badenoch has been asked to step in to persuade the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner, to intervene.

It follows concerns raised by one of the leaseholders, Ben Deane-Bowers, who claims his tenants have suffered health problems and electrical damage as a result of mould and water ingress.

He showed the Indie videos taken by residents in which water can be seen running through light fittings in the ceiling, onto bedding and down the walls.

He claimed the authority had repeatedly ignored calls for action over the past 10 years.

Mr Deane-Bowers addressed the parish council meeting, pleading for help in seeking compensation and for the flats to be condemned.

“Tenants have been suffering for more than 10 years and shouldn’t just be moved on but should be receiving compensation,” he said.

“We need an independent inquiry into this because there have been some pretty poor decisions and there is no remedy. Uttlesford have kicked the can down the road.”

The meeting agreed to support the residents’ views that remedial action carried out by UDC and its housing contractor Norse had been insufficient, claiming it was “too little, too late”, and backed its four district members in calling for funding to be included in UDC’s capital programme for 2025-26 to work towards a complete regeneration of the Manor Road flats.

The issue was due to come up at yesterday’s (Tuesday) full council meeting at UDC.

Cllr Sell said: “We are jointly of the view that redevelopment is the only option for these flats. They’ve spent money trying to fix it and it hasn’t worked, and we have some of the most vulnerable people in the community living in these flats.

“Very rarely do the four councillors in Stansted act as a collective body, but on this occasion I think we should.”

Cllr Gooding said he read with some “scepticism” a notice detailing expenditure on the flats from UDC chief executive Peter Holt.

“I find it to be rather too little, too late and throwing good money after bad,” he said.

Cllr Dean added: “An independent review might be the way forward as in my 38 years on Uttlesford, this is the worse situation I have come across. I am shocked at what I have seen.”

A statement from UDC said its position had not changed: “We are looking at all options for this block of flats, however the current priority is to carry out a programme of works to remove the cause of the damp and mould issues and to bring the living conditions back to a safe and healthy standard.”