My wife, the daughter of a Windrush émigré, is a long-term social housing tenant with L&Q. Since we plan for her elderly parents to move in with us, we applied to swap her two-bedroom flat for a three-bedroom one via housing association L&Q’s mutual exchange scheme. The property we chose was in a poor state of repair, but had potential. It took 18 months for the exchange to complete, during which time we were required to fill out forms confirming the condition of our property and our relationship with our neighbours, as did the other tenant who confirmed all was in order.
On moving day in April 2022, we were immediately doorstepped by our new neighbour, who informed us we were there illegally, and tried to stop us moving in. The flat itself had fallen into a dreadful state of disrepair. Live wires dangled from the walls, the plaster was rotten and the ceilings near collapse. It transpired the previous tenant had illegally let it as a house of multiple occupancy. L&Q told us to put in a works request, then proceeded to ignore us.
