00:00There is no silver bullet for rehousing Barton House tenants suffering trauma from the sudden
00:05evacuation in November 2023, according to the leader of Bristol's City Council. At the
00:11end of this month, tenants should finally be updated on how the council plans to help
00:17them in the longer term. Before local elections last May, the Greens
00:23promised to give residents of Barton House Band 1 priority in the system used to assign
00:30new social housing. Home Choice puts people hoping for a new home into four bands, with
00:36people given less priority often made to wait several years.
00:42The Greens largely took control of Bristol City Council in May, including chairing the
00:47Housing Policy Committee, which is responsible for the Home Choice system. In an interview
00:54with the local democracy reporting service, two leading Greens spoke about their plans
01:00to rebuild trust with council tenants across the city, with a new focus on making sure
01:07homes are safe. Medical experts recently said that the evacuation
01:12was a mass traumatising event. Doctors and psychologists from the Med Act charity urged
01:19the council to prioritise Barton House tenants for rehousing as soon as possible. However,
01:25there is a dire shortage of social housing in Bristol, with over 20,000 households waiting
01:30for a new home. Adding to problems in the damning verdict of the regulation of social
01:36housing last summer, that the council needed to massively improve safety checks and repairs
01:43on its homes.
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