Residents of evacuated Bristol tower block continue to demand rehousing
Many residents of Barton House, which was evacuated in 2023 over safety fears, say they must be found new homes
Residents of Bristol tower block Barton House, which was evacuated more than a year ago because of structural concerns, are continuing to demand they be rehoused.
Those living in the City Council owned building were suddenly told to get out in November 2023 because of fears a fire or explosion could cause it to collapse. It remained largely empty until late February of this year, when the council, in partnership with the Avon Fire and Rescue Service, declared it safe.
Despite that declaration residents tell Greatest Hits Radio continued issues with the block mean they live in constant fear for their safety.
Sam Kidel, Bristol Head Organiser from housing union ACORN, which represents a third of Barton House's residents, said: "They don't feel trust in the Council after everything that's happened...
"There's been people who are taking more medications than they're used to, since the evacuation. There's been kids that have been losing sleep, that have been refusing to eat, that have been having persistent nightmares, even self harming in some cases, all of this new since the evacuation took place.
"And the residents have also clearly been practically in (a) sort of emergency state since then too."
Sam talks of many having emergency bags ready 24/7 in case of a sudden need to get out, while some send their children to bed fully clothed so they can get out as fast as possible if an evacuation is ordered in the middle of the night.
Is the building actually unsafe?
Officially, no.
Barton House was evacuated in November 2023 because initial survey work suggested it might not be structurally sound. However, in the months that followed, a full survey showed those initial fears were unfounded.
The results of the survey were published online and you can access them here.
To further shore up the building and in an attempt to provide reassurance for residents, the council also had new support beams installed and a communal fire alarm put in, but so severe was the anxiety caused by the initial evacuation, many residents feel they cannot trust the block, regardless of whether paperwork suggests they should.
This view has been further exacerbated by several incidents when the communal alarm has sounded for no clear reason, including last Sunday (1st December).
Fadumo Farah who lives in the block, said: "(On) Sunday morning, I think it was like 8:30 in the morning, the main alarm system went off, the lift stopped working because the alarm system went off, and we had to drag our disabled people, our elders from upstairs, from (the) 14th floor, to downstairs," she said.
"We caused injuries. One lady, who is heavily pregnant, she ended up in hospital."
WATCH: Fadumo showed us round one flat in Barton House back in February, when residents were told to move back in.
Is it possible for residents to be rehoused?
In theory, yes.
Bristol City Council's housing system allows residents in need of a home, to apply for one through the HomeChoice website.
Applications are then ranked based on need, from Band One for those in most severe need of a home, to Band Four, for the least urgent cases.
In a statement sent to Greatest Hits Radio a spokesperson for Bristol City Council says they are looking at how to rehome residents who were already categorised as in Band One.
However, they add that the unique situation caused by the Barton House saga, does not allow them to recategorize any other residents who were not already considered to be in the most severe need of a new home.
“We are exploring housing options as there was a pre-election pledge from the Green Party to support band one priority for Barton House residents who want to move away from Barton House following the evacuation," the statement reads.
"There was not a commitment from Bristol City Council at the time to promise urgent rehousing by allocating band one, as the HomeChoice Bristol policy does not have provision to do this."
Sam from ACORN disputes that suggestion and points to HomeChoice's own terms and conditions for support.
"We have looked at the HomeChoice policy and it says that in extraordinary circumstances, they can do whatever they want. So it's quite clear," he said.
Greatest Hits Radio has checked the document in question and after introducing the policy for housing allocation, point 1.7 states that in "exceptional circumstances or unforeseen situations, such as an emergency...the Council retains its discretion to consider the individual circumstances of an applicant and will potentially waive the stated criteria of this policy in order to best address the situation".
Another point in the document, 4.4, states: "In exceptional circumstances where the applicant has an urgent need to move the Council may waive the qualification and suspension criteria."
You can see the document in full via this link.
Commenting on this, Sam from ACORN said: "It's unclear to us why senior elected councillors want something to happen and it's not happening.
"It begs the question, who is running the council?
"If we've elected representatives for us and they can't get the job done, who is in charge?"
Greatest Hits Radio has asked Bristol City Council for clarification on these points.
Even if the policy did allow for it, where could residents go to?
That is perhaps the most important question and may be the biggest barrier to residents getting their wish.
According to the HomeChoice website Bristol City Council owns 27,428 residential properties across the city.
Most if not all of them will already be lived in, yet in 2023/24, more than 21,000 people registered for a council home in the city.
In the meantime Fadumo said: "I'm not going to sleep until we are rehoused. Every single one of us that are scared to be here.
"I have a responsibility to make sure that my children are safe, my neighbours are safe, my community are safe and to be honest that is not happening at the moment."