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decision to decant or work around existing tenants will depend
what work is to be done, especially to common facilities.
It may be possible to work around the residents but major
structural works, soil stack replacement etc. will generally
require some form of decanting.
Decanting
itself is a hugely disruptive process for residents, especially
elderly people who have lived in a block for many years. It
needs to be very carefully planned and managed. It is obviously
best if residents are temporarily rehoused as near as possible
to the block.
For
some refurbishment it may be possible to decant from floor
to floor. If a few floors can be vacated, residents from other
floors can be temporarily rehoused in flats on these floors
while their own floors are dealt with and then moved back
and the process repeated with people from the next set of
floors.
However
if major structural work is to be done this may not be an
option. People will then need to be moved (with possessions
etc.) into other homes. This is likely to be the single most
complex operation within the refurbishment process! Every
household will have slightly different needs and the fail
and elderly will need close attention.
What
needs to be done
Start
the planning as early as possible. If the whole block is to
be decanted decide this and let people know this is planned.
There will be a lot of questions and negotiation to be done.
A ‘Decant Agreement’ with each household will be essential
and will need to be agreed with whatever organisation represents
the interests of the residents. The decant agreement is a
legal document that advises residents of the decant package
that they will receive when they move.
- A
‘decant package’ might include:
-
A Homeloss Payment (to comply with the Land Compensation
Act 1973)
- Redirection
of post paid for
- Telephone
reconnection paid for
- Disconnection
and Reconnection of appliances paid for
- Money
for carpets, curtains and in some cases furnishings
Social
services and housing officers from the local council or RSL
will need to be heavily involved and a formal liaison body
should be set up to monitor progress and ensure that all the
problems are dealt with.
The
Edmonton project reviewed as part of this work ran a successful
decanting operation. More information can be found on their
website:
http://www.greenhorizons.org.uk/development_team.htm.
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