Metropolitan Reviews 140

I cannot speak badly enough of Metropolitan Housing Trust. I genuinely believe it is a criminal organisation. There needs to be a full independent investigation of this company by the government because its behaviour towards tenants and even its actual policies are in breach of various laws e.g. demanding that tenants sign a document to confirm that they will not seek compensation for damages caused by Metropolitan's contractors if they damage their property while carrying out repair work.

Overcharged rent by more than double for over two years. I failed to realise this because of illness and lack of rent statements. 2 months of efforts with the help of a local councillor and a support and advice centre and I have still not been fully repaid.

Toilet left unrepaired for 18 months. MHT insists that I must have the toilet replaced when I don't want a new bathroom and only want it repairing. An independent plumber has told me that it can be done in 2 hours for just £125 yet MHT is refusing to do the repair *and* refusing to allow me to have it done privately (threatening me with eviction if I do this)!

MHT has cut up asbestos in my home (offered me an insulting £50 "full and final" compensation); took 4 YEARS to make it safe.

Ruined my living room carpet (white paint on dark blue). Paid for a professional cleaning company to clean it but they said the paint could not be removed.

Ruined my kitchen flooring (slashed it on *two* separate occasions). Promised to replace it but NOT like-for-like. Still fighting this case.

Left me for 3 weeks without heating and hot water in winter after the 'new' boiler broke down after just 3 days.

Took 4 months to repair a leaking roof.

Took 18 months to remove a pile of refuse sacks that one of its tenants had built up in a communal area. Not until there was a maggot-ridden pool of brown filth and a stinking health hazard did it lift a finger. Tenants had to suffer this stench right through summer.

Promised a Lands Tribunal to repay me cleaning service charges for 1 year because the cleaning wasn't being done then repaid me nothing (the Tribunal said it had "no powers of enforcement").

Was caught "rounding up" a water charge from £7.19p per week to £7.20p.

Charges tenants on benefits for services the costs of which are covered by the government i.e. charging tenants and then reclaiming the money.

Current asbestos tests are unsafe e.g. braking asbestos in the home to take a sample.

Tells tenants that it is legal to possess and smoke cannabis "in the privacy of the home". This in relation to constant criminal and antisocial behaviour in and around its properties.

MHT's ASB policies are intentionally useless e.g. for vandalism and cannabis use tenants are directed to the police claiming it cannot do anything without evidence. Other ASB issues such as noise pollution MHT diverts tenants to local Environmental Health. I know of no circumstances in which MHT will take action against any criminal or antisocial behaviour. Suspected benefits fraud i.e. a tenant allowing a partner (an antisocial one) to move in while maintaining a property elsewhere on benefits is apparently not a matter for MHT but one which tenants must report to "the correct authorities".

In short, MHT is not just bad, it is *criminally* bad.

This star-rating system only allows a minimum of one star (at least two more stars than they deserve). A company abusing its charity status with a CEO on £200,000+ per year, meanwhile we can't even get our lifts working most of the time.

As others have stated, avoid this housing association whether as a customer or an employee: their staff turnaround is the highest I've ever witnessed - we currently do not even have a Resident's Officer for our block.

Trying to have our building serviced always seems like a trial - one redecoration to the communal areas took ten years to happen even though we originally said it needed doing after only two years of being there. We were promised it would happen within one year, then five years, then seven years. We were fobbed off every year with some lame excuse.

We have even had to check their accounts every year and have found charges to our block that were not even for our address. Anyone else doing that would be up for fraud charges.

If you want as stress-free an experience getting on the property ladder then please avoid all Metropolitan Housing associated companies.

You will be paying an increasing amount year-on-year on your rent, way above what I would consider reasonable, with an accompanying letter which is almost gleeful in stating how any government rent caps do not apply to Housing Associations.

The whole notion of affordable housing goes out the window after a few years with them. If I could afford to jump ship I would. For now I feel trapped.

Awful housing association. Have no interest in maintaining their properties, especially if social housing tenants are living in them. My profile pic is of the hole in the roof of the communal area in my block, which metropolitan are fully aware of. I'd give them a minus rating if I could.

Terrible organisation. They sign you up to a lease and then don't even honour it. They refuse to do even the most basic property maintenance and then bully their leaseholders and lie to them if they complain. They hid behind their charity status, because they like the tax breaks it gives them, but treat people who rely on them for their homes with utter contempt. They are everything that is wrong with housing in the UK.