Residents forced to leave their tower block in Bristol are still having to pay rent.
Around 400 people from Barton House were told to pack a bag of clothes and leave their homes on November 14 without any warning.
Surveys conducted on three of the 98 flats found a risk to the structure of the block in the event of a ‘fire, explosion or large impact’.
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This left residents scrambling to find friends to stay with, or relying on the council to put them up in hotel rooms, with families only being allocated one each.
Despite their being no prospect of a return until December at the earliest, residents are still being made to pay rent because ‘the council is providing accommodation’.
Mayor Marvin Rees, who described Bristol Council as ’empathetic’, said: ‘In terms of those in the hotels, they are (being charged rent) at the moment, but we’re being very empathetic about that
‘But at the same time we are providing accommodation, food and services for people.’
The number of households at the Holiday Inn in the city centre has risen to 67, with 13 remaining with friends and family, and 14 opting to defy the council’s evacuation order and return or remain at Barton House.
A spokesperson for Bristol City Council told Bristol Live more formal discussions with residents about the situation over rent had not yet taken place, as the council was prioritising emergency accommodation.
‘Talking to the residents who have fed back as well, on bills, we have done a bit of outreach to the utilities companies to say “if you have customers who are residents of Barton House, please reach out and offer some flexibility to them as well”, we’re obviously trying to wrap ourselves around people’s challenges,’ the Mayor added.
A rent pause is one of five demands set out by tenant’s union Acorn Bristol which has a number of residents of Barton House as members.
They are also calling for an independent investigation into what has happened at Barton House, the residents to be re-housed locally, compensation for residents and support for the mental health and childcare for all affected residents.
On Friday residents gathered at Bristol City Hall this morning to accuse the council of a lack of communication following their evacuation from their homes.
Shaban Ali, 36, a Barton House resident and Acorn member, said: ‘We were completely left in the dark, I didn’t have a clue.
‘The group chat started coming alive and rumours were flying all over the place about evacuations happening. There was a complete vacuum of information.
‘A lot of elderly people, a lot of vulnerable people with very young children. I have two children myself and I didn’t know where I was going to do.’
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