Walthamstow Stadium residents face 'mass eviction'

Residents at Goodwood Apartments, a tall residential building by Walthamstow Stadium, were originally told that a Section 21 eviction would be served – meaning families would have to leave their homes just before Christmas.

While this has been extended to March 2023 after pressure from residents, there are fears over the “mass eviction”.

Social housing giant London & Quadrant (L&Q) admitted earlier this year a range of faults in the 290-home Walthamstow Stadium development that will take years to repair.

Repairs are taking place around the estate (Image: LDR)

As L&Q carries out “remedial works” at the stadium, residents were promised they’d be rehomed to sites nearby. They are now told this is not the case and the block is needed to temporarily rehouse other residents on the Walthamstow Stadium estate over the next four years.

This leaves current Goodwood residents without a place to live.

Umer Khan, who lives with his wife Seebia and three kids, has admitted that he does not know what to do next as he has no alternative homes lined up.

Seebia and her two children (Image: Residents association)

The hotel receptionist said that families have been “kept in the dark” over the last 18 months instead of given preparation to find a new place.

He said: “Now rents are very high for two or three-bedroom flats, even in the Chingford area. I can’t afford that much money, they should have told me before, but they kept me in the dark for almost two years.”

Finding a new place for Mr Khan’s family is proving to be difficult, after losing his managerial role over the pandemic and now on a “basic wage” as a receptionist.

Upon hearing the news, he said he could not concentrate at work as he felt very “anxious” and wary of the future.

Mr Khan continued: “My only option is this flat – or they have to rehouse me.”

The Walthamstow Stadium sign by the estate (Image: NQ)

But according to him, and other residents, L&Q made no effort to find alternative accommodation. Mr Khan fears he could lose his home of several years, that is near to his children’s school.

He said: “If they serve it (Section 21) today or tomorrow it doesn’t matter, because I have nowhere to go. I just need a house to take my kids and wife.”

READ MORE: Residents 'let down' as £10m set aside for Walthamstow Stadium homes repairs

Sarah Chaney, chair of the Tenants and Residents Association, said it was “extremely disappointing” that the housing association did not involve the group before making a “drastic decision”.

Scaffolding covers some parts of the development five years after it was completed (Image: LDRS)

A spokesperson for L&Q said that ending the private tenancies was a “very difficult decision” which was taken to “minimise disruption for the majority of residents at Stadium Place”.

A statement reads: “We have met with residents at Goodwood Apartments and are working closely with them and partners in the housing sector, including local government, to seek alternative housing options in the local area, for those households wishing to stay in this community.”

A discretionary payment of £5,000 is being offered to residents affected and L&Q says that one-to-one meetings have been organised to understand each residents’ circumstances.