Housing bosses have pleaded with council tenants to believe they will fulfil a massive programme of repairs and improvements despite a long “litany of lies” and “broken promises”. Bristol City Council’s budget in March included £1.8billion for council homes over 30 years, including 2,000 new properties in the next seven years, plus an extra £80million on energy efficiency, £12.5million for 5,500 new bathrooms by 2027 and £8.7million to spruce up communal areas, blocks and estates.
But tenant representatives admitted being “cynical”, having heard similar pledges before, with one saying he would be “insane” to believe it now. Officers told the authority’s housing management board that this time was “significantly different” because councillors had signed off on a business plan for the next three decades, including a number of specific major immediate investments.
Tenant rep Pete Daw, of Westbury on Trym, however, told the meeting: “It would not be the first time that there was a litany of broken promises. When I hear there is an additional £80million energy efficiency project, I’m afraid there is a litany of lies that stretches my ability to accept or believe the possibility that my home might have a PVC photo-electric roof generating electricity on it by the close of 2030.”
