summer edition #105 100 YEARS OFCROYDON COUNCIL MARKS A CENTURY OFHOUSING RESIDENT MEMORIES Welcome to this special commemorative edition of Open House in which we are marking the one hundred year anniversary of the 1919 Housing Act, which gave rise to the widespread construction of social housing after the war. Don’t miss our exhibition celebrating 100 years of council housing on show in Croydon Clocktower between 2-31 August. Photos of estates under construction from the Museum of Croydon archives, residents’ stories OPPORTUNITY TO BUY YOUR OWN HOME and memorabilia will be on display. (Read Centenary Stories p2-3). UNDER SHARED OWNERSHIP SCHEME Croydon Council has welcomed The three affordable rented BIDS INVITED FOR the first batch of affordable homes homes will go to people on the now available to Croydon residents council’s housing waiting list. COMMUNITY HOMES through developer Brick by Brick. The council set up housing Croydon community groups can Work is being finalised on turning the development company Brick by now put forward bids to build site of a derelict former care home Brick in 2016 to boost local housing their own affordable homes on off Chipstead Avenue in Thornton supply by developing more a council-owned plot of land. Heath into Flora Court, a scheme than 2,000 good-quality homes, In January the council approved a consisting of 24 shared ownership including affordable homes, with project where local groups can design flats and three affordable rented flats. any profits from development and develop their own community- The shared ownership part of the to be returned to the council to led homes on borough land. scheme is now available. Prices for reinvest in the borough. Bidders will also receive design and homes start from £315,000 but will www.bxbdevelopment.com development support from Brick by only cost £78,750 for those buying a Brick. (Continued on p8 of OH eXTRA). 25% share. FOR MORE PHOTOS CHECK OUT OUR FACEBOOK PAGE www.facebook/croydonresidentinvolvement CENTENARY STORIES RESIDENTS REMEMBER CHANGING TIMES The 100 years of coucil housing I remember my grandfather telling desperate it just wasn’t suitable. In KEEP YOUR HOME exhibition will feature a range of me about a time he was at his those days you were only given two memorabilia including first hand front door talking to a friend and chances but luckily the second time FIRE SAFE accounts from people who lived in five minutes after going indoors, the council offered us this house in Friday 14 June marked the two year council homes and their relatives. a bomb blew the front door off its Thornton Heath and I’ve been here anniversary of the Grenfell Tower Croydon has provided homes to hinges and broke all the windows. ever since.” tragedy in which 72 people lost their many families over the years. Here, Luckily everyone inside was OK. lives. Since then Croydon Council have we give you a taste of the exhibition I loved staying at my grandparents been working hard to ensure that your as some of our residents look back on house. I always woke up to the smell JEAN’S STORY homes are safe from the risk of fire. their experiences, bearing witness to of bacon frying. My grandmother was Jean is a resident in one of Croydon have been a pioneer in the a changing town. a great cook who made brilliant pies. Croydon’s sheltered housing and installation of sprinkler systems to high I have very happy memories of that has lived in Croydon all her life. rise blocks across the borough. In June, house.” a chip pan fire in one of these blocks was ALBERT & LAURA’S “We moved from Wentworth Road successfully supressed by the sprinkler STORY when I was a year old, after my dad system. spoke to somebody who worked But over the last few months there Paul Bradshaw contacted us through at the council. He was digging his have been several other incidents After fire caused by candle our Facebook page to share a garden in the Swan and Sugarloaf where tenants have contributed to the moving account of his grandparents pub and my dad asked him if we spread of the fire. Please help to ensure both yours and your who lived in a council house in could get a council house. Two weeks neighbours’ safety by: 26 Granden Road in Norbury for later we were given a three bedroom 54 years, from 1919 to 1973. house in Waddon. You couldn’t • Never leaving an open flame unattended do things like that these days. My • Putting candles and cigarettes fully out “My grandmother came to London Albert and Laura Price dad used to tell me that story. • Never propping open a fire door or removing internal doors from Bedfordshire to be a cook in a He was born in Wentworth Road. My • Making sure communal areas are clear or items could: family home of a pianist. She met my gran was pregnant with my dad when o Burn grandfather in London who was an my grandfather died of tuberculosis. o Block the fire brigade from moving through the building electrician on the trams. She brought up four boys on her o Slow your escape own. We had an open fire which For more information please follow the link to advice from My mother and her sister were both BRIGID’S STORY was a black stove with different www.london-fire.gov.uk/safety/the-home/ born in that house. My grandmother, ovens and cupboards to heat the Join our new online resident health and safety panel, Laura Price nee Brand, was 43 Brigid has lived in a Croydon room and warm our clothes, and a covering all aspects of health and safety including fire, when she had my mother with my Council property since moving chimney. My dad used to find bits gas and electrical safety, asbestos, legionella/water grandfather Albert Price, aged 45. in with her husband in 1969. It of old wood and coal as he worked and potential hazards such as trips and falls. Contact has been her home ever since. on the railway. You didn’t have the [email protected] to find out more. I can remember the neighbours money then to buy a lot of coal. It next door. The Rickets were “We were living in a flat above the was so cold at night we had coats on on one side at no. 28 and Mrs South End Road post office, opposite the beds. The milkman, baker and FIND OUT Peters on the other at no. 24. the Swan and Sugar Loaf pub. We greengrocer used to come round stayed there until I had my sixth child on cart and horses but we couldn’t The inside of the house was very but the landlord wanted the flat back afford to use them every time. There old fashioned. It had a ‘copper’ (a for his own family, so he forced us were no local shops, except a grocers in Croydon libraries, museums and parks tank to boil water) in the kitchen. out by turning off the electricity and who would deliver by bicycle but with If you wanted a bath, you only had gas. It was December. It was really rationing there wasn’t a lot to buy. SUMMER OF FUN GUIDE a cold tap and took your hot water nasty as he made us homeless and We used to take a barrow to for lots of free and low cost activites from the copper in a bucket to tip we had to farm out the children to the market and had to walk Images from top, left to right: Tylecroft Road; Northbrough PICK UP A COPY FROM YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY into the bath. They had a coal fire friends while we stayed in a hotel. because there weren’t any buses.” Road; Beulah Grove; Northbrough Road. bombed housing prior which changed to gas once they The council offered us a flat in (Read more of Jean and Brigid’s to buidling of the Handcroft Estate, prefabs in Auckland Rise; Or go online at: www.croydon.gov.uk/leisure/libraries/libraries- news-and-events made London a smokeless zone. Moorland Road but although we were memories on p8 OH eXTRA). Violet Lane 2 3 eXTRA INVOLVED RESIDENT HOUSING ROUND UP QUICK FIX TIPS # 1: HOW TO TEST A CARBON MONOXIDE ALARM YAW NEW (Please note: to play this video you will need Adobe Reader software which uses a Flash player) STAR SURVEY Over the coming months we’re OH GIVES YOU eXTRA TLP CHAIR conducting a survey in partnership INTERACTIVE FEATURE with Acuity to find out what you This is the first in a series of At April’s Tenant and Leasehold- think about the housing services instructional videos brought to er Panel (TLP), Yaw Boateng you receive from us. A random you by the council’s repairs team was elected to chairperson. He selection of residents will receive and Axis to help you with a range tells us why he took the posi- a phone call asking for feedback of every day DIY tasks. tion and what he gets out of be- on a range of issues from safety to repairs. We’ll feedback what coming an involved resident. The videos, presented by Axis you tell us and how we’ll address any issues you’ve raised in Open apprentices, explain the tasks in “It’s an honour to be elected to this role, a position my predecessor House. Watch this space! an easy to understand step-by- Marilyn Smithies executed with such dedication and commitment.