St Jude’s council housing refurbishment

What's happening

For the past year, we've been planning a major refurbishment of the council housing blocks in the St Jude's area.

On Thursday 13 June we contacted residents directly and delivered an update to each flat in the 5 blocks in St Jude's.

We're now able to take the next steps with this refurbishment programme.

Over the next 3 to 5 years, we intend to carry out extensive refurbishment of:

  • Charleton House
  • Haviland House
  • John Cozens House
  • Langton House
  • Tyndall House

The total investment is expected to be around £18 million and will be delivered in phases, to limit the amount of disruption to residents' daily lives, whilst trying to complete the works in the quickest possible time.

From Monday 17 June contractors began to carry out initial survey works and later the refurbishment. Until the survey work is complete, we will not be able to progress with the intended repairs and new installations.

To finish these surveys quickly and to a high degree of accuracy, 14 residents have agreed to vacate their flats for up to 3 months, to allow the contractors to carry out this extensive survey work in their flat.

Flats selected for surveys are offered the opportunity to move into temporary serviced accommodation whilst the surveys are carried out.

We'll reinstate and decorate all of the flats that take part in the inspections ahead of the refurbishment works beginning.

Initial survey findings

On Wednesday 4 September, we contacted residents directly to deliver an update about some initial findings from the survey works and some additional fire safety measures we're introducing to the blocks.

As a precautionary measure, fire evacuation procedures in Charlton House, Haviland House, John Cozens House and Langton House have changed and we now advise that in the case of a fire, residents in these blocks should evacuate immediately.

A waking watch service has also been introduced across all of these blocks.

If you're a resident

During June and July we will begin in-person meetings with you to respond to initial feedback and share more information about the surveys and refurbishment planning.

We're also preparing opportunities for drop in sessions and smaller, more individual conversations with officers and contractors to keep you informed and answer questions you may have.

Your questions answered

We're aiming to answer any appropriate questions within a few working days.

If you've got a question about the refurbishment works taking place at St Jude's, check the document below to see if we've already answered your query:

If we've not answered your question:

Timeline
  • From Friday 14 June: discussions with 14 flats about structural surveys.
  • Week starting Monday 17 June: contractors will start setting up on site. Shortly after the work will begin on an already empty flat.
  • July: in-person meetings with residents take place.
  • July to August: residents taking part in structural surveys move into serviced accommodation in stages (see "Structural repairs" section in the booklet you will have been sent for more info).
  • July to September: structural surveys take place.
  • Wednesday 4 September: update to all residents about additional fire safety measures.
  • September to October: residents taking part in the structural surveys move back into their flats in stages.
  • November: survey results received.
  • December or January: refurbishment begins pending survey results.
Help and support

Housing officers are available from 10am to 4pm every Wednesday at Tyndall House.

If you need more support and help:

Mental health and wellbeing support

We understand that for some residents the refurbishment works could cause stress of anxiety.

If you need mental health support, you can find a list of mental health services.

Stay informed

We're committed to communicating with residents first, sharing as much information as we can, when we have it.

If you're a resident of St Jude's, let us know the best way you would like us to keep you updated by speaking to a your housing officer.

We'll be sending updates by:

  • text
  • email in English, Somali, Arabic, and Portuguese
  • letters in English, Somali, Arabic, and Portuguese
    meeting in person

Housing officers have been working to get residents phone numbers and email addresses over the past few months, along with language preference.

If you've not managed to speak with a housing officer and provided contact details, make sure that we have these so that we can contact you directly.

You can also provide details by:

Letters to residents
Residents booklet

You can also find the booklet and any future updates displayed in communal areas of each block.

Tell us about a problem with a form, page or Citizen Portal account