Barton House: Evacuated tenants demand rent pause

Tenants forced to leave a council-owned tower block due to safety fears are demanding their rent is paused.

More than 400 residents had to leave Barton House in Bristol on 14 November and most remain in a hotel, though some have chosen to return.

At a tense meeting at City Hall, tenants urged council bosses to stop charging them rent.

"This is causing financial difficulty for those of us who are living in hotel accommodation," said Jon Wisbey.

The acting chair of the Barton House Tenants Association, added: "We, the residents of Barton House, demand that there is rehousing for those who feel unsafe in the building, and everything should be done to support those who wish to remain within the building and support the community that has developed therein."

Questions were also raised about what would happen to tenants if the building was found to be unsafe, with survey results expected next week, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

So far the evacuation is forecast to cost the council £3.5m, and a cabinet meeting on 5 December heard details of how much had been spent.

Mr Wisbey added: "We would also like an independent investigation and rent to be paused for those currently paying it."

Many people living at Barton House have all or part of their rent covered by housing benefit. 

A previous council statement warned: "If we were to stop charging rent, any tenant of Barton House in receipt of Universal Credit and/or Housing Benefit would see those benefits needing to be recalculated." 

The majority of Barton House tenants are now staying in a Holiday Inn, which the council has block-booked until the end of January.

Some vulnerable tenants are staying in serviced apartments, while others have remained in the tower block despite the safety warnings.

At the meeting, Labour deputy mayor Craig Cheney thanked the residents of Barton House for their "cooperation and resilience", adding: "As someone who lived in Barton House once upon a time, I'm pleased to see that residents are able to come in and contribute to the agenda today, and it's good to have you here."

Mr Cheney was chairing the meeting as Marvin Rees, the mayor, was away in Dubai for the Cop28 climate conference.

Mr Rees was also out of the country on 14 November, the night of the evacuation, as he was attending another conference in Rwanda.

Council bosses were also urged to negotiate with residents and recognise the newly reconstituted tenants association at Barton House, as well as Acorn, the community union which represents many tenants in the tower block.

The meeting ended with an argument after the deputy mayor did not allow a tenant to ask a final question, saying it should have been submitted in writing in advance.

Another unnamed Barton House resident began shouting at Mr Cheney urging him to "show some respect".

"What's the point in us being here? You're giving us absolutely zero, absolute disrespect," he said.

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