“I'm 75 yrs old disabled, impaired vision and eyesight. I got a clarion apartment built 1953.
I've been harassed by the wardens and they refuse to help in any way. this apartment wad not fit to be let. I signed the tenancy February but could not move in as heating was not working correctly.and 9 months later is still not working properly im freezing at night. there was no gas connection for a cooker nor a space to put a cooker. its been a nightmare.broken floorboards .rubble in cubards. broken and dangerous life hatch. but when I complained politely
you get harassed. I was told by long standing tenants not to complain to the wardens as they are vindictive. I cant believe any company can have such staff working for them. I have found them to be untruthful.and unreliable”
“The first persons review was stop on.
They expect everything and give nothing. They make you feel eternally grateful for letting you live in their house and that’s the way you should always feel despite anything that maybe wrong with the property.
Most staff have no empathy for people in difficult situations. And they Make up the rules on what’s an acceptable condition for a property as they go along.”
“This housing association (Clarion) is the most despicable, unregulated group of thoughtless, vile, malicious, unfeeling, immature and unprofessional, unintelligent morons with the complete lack of intelligence and basic legal knowledge that should be a prerequisite to work in this environment. During the current Pandemic, people have been at great pains to listen, observe and adapt to situations, especially to those involving vulnerable and ailing persons. NOT HOWEVER, THE GLORIOUS CLARION CLAN!
I was due to have an annual gas safety check and they kept sending pre-booked appointments without any prior consultation, from more than 2 months before the 12 month deadline. I have health issues and cannot just be available when they dictate. After all, the last time I looked, we are not living in a dictatorial, Stalinist, Nazi state and our freedom of right is choice within the parameters of statutory rules. However, I became extremely unwell and explained that I couldn't have the boiler serviced on the date that they demanded and I had also been advised to self isolate. I did, however, book an appointment with the service engineer, still well within the 12 month period and the check was carried out.
The adjacent semi detached bungalow, is having internal walls, staircase, kitchen and bathroom removed, footings dug for an enormous extension and will be continuing for 18 weeks. With a dividing wall of only a single brick, the noise is intolerable. My neighbour has moved out, but I cannot escape the racket and have been staying, intermittently, in a holiday home belonging to a friend, but return at weekends to my bungalow. This week I returned to find a spiteful, aggressive and factually incorrect letter from Clarion's solicitors threatening legal action regarding the gas inspection. Sent, nearly 2 weeks AFTER the service had been completed! In addition, the added threat that if I did not respond within 7 days of the date of the letter, it was deemed that I may have abandoned my property and a court order could be applied for to gain entry and retain the property. SINCE WHEN DO WE HAVE TO INFORM CLARION THAT WE ARE NOT AT HOME FOR A WEEK OR MORE!?!!!? THIS IS SCAREMONGERING, DESPICABLE AND DOWNRIGHT ILLEGAL AND I AM TAKING THIS TO THE NATIONAL PRESS, THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE HIGHEST COURT IN THE LAND, because I can. I could have been in hospital, suffering from Covid or anything. No attempt was made to phone me. I suffer from chronic and debilitating health issues and medical depression. I fortunately am on a strong run at the moment, but on a low ebb, I could have been pushed to take my life. It is a delicate balance. I don't want anybody else to receive this vile, incorrect and threatening correspondence which may have devastating consequences. Currently I like many, am unable to meet with my support network groups and don't possess the technical equipment to join in with video/zoom and other forums, but I can still write. The legally incorrect letter from Clarion's solicitors, should not be allowed and my first port of call is the Law Society. Fortunately, I have many years of experience in the past with legal and press/public relations in local authority, civil service and central government. They, CLARION, need to be exposed for their callous and bullying behaviour. PLEASE PLEASE CONTACT YOUR MP, LOCAL COUNCILLOR OR NEWSGROUP. THEY NEED TO BE TAKEN TO ACCOUNT AND STOPPED FROM RUINING PEOPLE'S LIVES. THERE IS POWER IN NUMBERS. THE MORE COMPLAINTS, THE GREATER THE IMPACT. Take heart, we can make a difference. They do nothing for us when requested, but DEMAND everything on their terms. IT MUST STOP!”
“Shared Ownership With Clarion:
My partner and I are in the process of buying an shared ownership properly with Clarion. For months Clarion has fed us false hopes about an estimated time frame of moving in, they haven't responded to emails and have left us in the dark or chasing things that they should be on top of. We feel like this is unacceptable as we’ve done everything on our part possible for us to be able to move and it feels like we’re the ones having to chase everything to find out what’s going on. We were given a timeframe which hasn’t been upheld even though we understand it was a draft but at every point there has been delays through no fault of our own. Even the valuation was set back due to the valuers not being able to gain entry to the home and even when Mortgage lenders tried to inform Clarion of this there was no response. It was only when I, myself called Clarion a few times to inform them of the situation something was done about it. Also our solicitor hasn’t even received the pack for us to be able to begin the process which should have started way back in September. We only found this out two weeks ago when our Solicitor had called us up to inform us and saying that once she gets the pack we'll have to wait up to two months to move in (when Clarion had told us repeatedly that we'd move in early December and then changed it to late December). Our solicitor also has said that she emailed Clarion's solicitors several times and have heard nothing and that Clarion is aware of the whole situation - but Clarion was still feeding us false hopes of moving in after a few weeks and not informing us of the problems.
We've sent a few emails (along with the mortgage lenders and solicitors) however at every stage they have ignored each email sent. I asked for Clarion to contact me and let me know updates, however I had to still call up to chase them for updates.
This all has been highly unprofessional from Clarion and the lack of communication has been really unsettling. We hope things improve and we are able to move into our new home sooner we are needing our own place.
If the house wasn't so nice we would have canceled the whole process.”
“I'm ashamed to even give them 1 star.
People are starting to listen after 100s into the thousands of complaints re Clarion. On all levels.
And staff posting re working for clarion. Best post from 100+ TOXIC ENVIRONMENT TO WORK IN now twice in 2 months Clarion having to respond to claims put to them from MPS.
Clarion in response did not agree with finding.
And response was "survey over 90%tennents were very happy with Clarion "?
TRUSTPILOT THE SAME DAY.
80% RATED CLARION AS BAD.
THEN POOR.
CLARION DECLINED TO ANSWER AS WHEN AND HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE ASKED IN THIS SURVEY.”
“These are by far the worst HA. I’ve moved into a 3 bed house in a lovely village. Upon viewing the property for the first time it was obvious by the state of the outside of the property that it hadn’t been shown any love for quite some time. It was confirmed when I entered. 30 year old Kitchen that resembled something my Nan would have had, the garden hadn’t been tended to for months and they had ripped the coving off the walls leaving bits of plaster and ripped wall paper exposed. When I questioned as to whether it would all be ‘put right’ by the time I moved in, I was told by the lady doing the viewing that she would raise them as urgent and if not done with 4 days it wouldn’t be much after. Now being as though I was living in a flat and over crowded I paused to consider my options. Either wait another 2+ years for another 4 bed or trust that this lady was the person she portrayed herself to be... honest and empathetic and take the property. OMG!!! What a mistake!! 3 years later I am still waiting for the Kitchen to be replaced which looks dreadful now as cupboard doors have fallen off injuring my children. Out of principal I didn’t ‘put right’ the aftermath of the coving removal and after 90+ calls they sent someone round two weeks ago. Still waiting for the front porch to be repainted because their argument is it is the tenants responsibility!?? Erm!!? Really!??
I recently spoke with the previous tenant who had lived in the property as a child when it was first built and he returned to the property with his wife and children when his parents died. He told me that in the 30 years he lived there, clarion have done nothing to maintain the property. HE put in gas central heating, HE, fitted the kitchen and HE did minor repairs himself purely out of frustration.
So, it appears I’m living in the previous tenant house. Maybe I should pay him the rent!! They have made my complaint about the kitchen which is well passed its renewal date for 3 YEARS!! Joke!!
I’ve had enough. I contacted a journalist today. They need to be publicly held accountable. I’m trying to find out how I can take them to court too. I’m compiling a list of all the emails, letters and phone calls and I’m going to bill them for the lot!! Had enough!!”
“I placed a deposit on a flat back in October 2019. Fortunately, I had a thorough mortgage company who requested a fire-safety certificate .. it failed and my mortgage company refused to offer me a mortgage on this basis. The customer service I received during this time has been the worst I have received in my life and to this date (07/09/20) Latimer Homes do not know when they will be conducting remedial works to make the building safe. I understand they now ensure you go via their financial adviser which may mean you end up with a mortgage company who do not conduct the right checks. PLEASE ensure you conduct a thorough search IN PARTICULAR FIRE SAFETY (you want an EWS1 form confirming the safety of your flat) prior to even considering a purchase. Otherwise, you could find yourself trapped in an unsafe property which is difficult to sell because lenders (such as mine - TSB) will not offer to your prospective buyers. I can see another customer had the same fire safety issue in a review dated 'a year ago' so this looks to have been actively concealed. I don't want to see anybody else out of pocket and stressed due to Latimer Homes.”
“Where do I start? Small repairs are generally attended to quite quickly but anything more serious can go on for months or even years. ASB is not dealt with at all. Although they state a policy for dealing with it they do not adhere to it in reality. They are virtually impossible to get hold of and with the removal of Housing Officers, which we were not warned about, they have just become another faceless corporation driven by greed and a lust for profit”
“Clarion Housing - Experience
Bought my newbuild property from Clarion housing in 2016 under the impression that those properties were build to standards, these properties were represented to the Local Authority, The London Mayor’s Office and to each home buyer, as having been built to superior standards with substantial energy efficiency and building quality. Clarion over-saw the entire development, design and creation of the properties. The materials used have been sub-standard and the claimed energy efficiency and build quality is simply lacking in every single property.
The properties should have been built with membranes to ensure that the gases do not rise into the properties. We are advised that the council identified to Clarion that the membranes were damaged and it was asserted that they would be corrected. At present, we have no evidence they were fixed. if they were fixed, then there is a failure in the design and construction, because, as noted, the gases are present contaminating homes and causing health conditions, and evidence was presented to Clarion was ignored. It may simply be that the membranes were not replaced/fixed. Your comments on which scenario is correct would be most welcome?
The insulation in the properties is in most Clarion properties on the site is sub-standard, In some instances, there have been attempts to retrofit the insulation resulting in to move outs with the property completely emptied on 2 occasions, over a 100 families was evacuated from their house,
recent inspections highlighted insulation still missing throughout the whole property, as stated on the second thermal report. Was just another cover up exercise by Clarion's professional witness from Pellings survey and homebuilder Willmott Dixon and NHBC. Most of the properties do not have adequate and in some cases any insulation as proven in my home.
The failure to put in adequate insulation and the use of sub-standard materials was over-seen & directed by Clarion. The acquisition of cheaper materials occurred at the insistence of Clarion, because of the failures my property and surrounding ones have no fire protection, cavity barriers missing running to the top of the properties, clear pathways into separating walls with no fire resistance, no top cavity barriers or insulation protecting from neighbouring homes.
Wrong wall tiles used to build the property, causing huge vibration from neighbouring home, shaking floors and rattling doors In the property, and a constant thumping sound with every footstep made from neighbours, sounds like a constant hammer banging on the floor. witnessed by clarions professional. It's not deliberate from the neighbours, Is a lack of compliance.
All of those problems are hidden in the cavities and under floors, If you are thinking of buying a new build get a intrusive surveyor before you purchase.
Or become a Clarion victim. This has caused stress, anxiety, utterly miserable home life and loss of enjoyment in are home life and has caused substantial damage to are well being and health.
Most companies have a basic sense of right and wrong, Not Clarion! fake morality is used as a manipulative device, rather than genuine value, selling dangerous properties to cut back on materials, putting life's in danger, to me is a lack of empathy and cold heartedness.
Claire Miller chief at Clarion is fully aware of the horrific situation, and refusing to take responsibility and leaving families in dangerous homes they've sold.”
“Clarion Victim
Bought my newbuild property from Clarion housing in 2016 under the impression that those properties were build to standards, these properties were represented to the Local Authority, The London Mayor’s Office and to each home buyer, as having been built to superior standards with substantial energy efficiency and building quality. Clarion over-saw the entire development, design and creation of the properties. The materials used have been sub-standard and the claimed energy efficiency and build quality is simply lacking in every single property.
The properties should have been built with membranes to ensure that the gases do not rise into the properties. We are advised that the council identified to Clarion that the membranes were damaged and it was asserted that they would be corrected. At present, we have no evidence they were fixed. if they were fixed, then there is a failure in the design and construction, because, as noted, the gases are present contaminating homes and causing health conditions, and evidence was presented to Clarion was ignored. It may simply be that the membranes were not replaced/fixed. Your comments on which scenario is correct would be most welcome?
The insulation in the properties is in most Clarion properties on the site is sub-standard, In some instances, there have been attempts to retrofit the insulation resulting in to move outs with the property completely emptied on 2 occasions, over a 100 families was evacuated from their house,
recent inspections highlighted insulation still missing throughout the whole property, as stated on the second thermal report. Was just another cover up exercise by Clarion professional witness from Pellings survey and homebuilder Willmott Dixon and NHBC. Most of the properties do not have adequate and in some cases any insulation as proven in my home.
The failure to put in adequate insulation and the use of sub-standard materials was over-seen & directed by Clarion. The acquisition of cheaper materials occurred at the insistence of Clarion, because of the failures my property and surrounding ones have no fire protection, cavity barriers missing running to the top of the properties, clear pathways into separating walls with no fire resistance, no top cavity barriers or insulation protecting from neighbouring homes.
Wrong wall tiles used to build the property, causing huge vibration from neighbouring home, shaking floors and rattling doors In the property, and a constant thumping sound with every footstep made from neighbours, sounds like a constant hammer banging on the floor. witnessed by clarions professional.
It's not deliberate from the neighbours, Is a lack of compliance.
All of those problems are hidden in the cavities and under floors, If you are thinking of buying a new build get a intrusive surveyor before you purchase.
Or become a Clarion victim. This has caused stress, anxiety, utterly miserable home life and loss of enjoyment in are home life and has caused substantial damage to are well being and health.
Most companies have a basic sense of right and wrong, Not Clarion! fake morality is used as a manipulative device, rather than genuine value, selling dangerous properties to cut back on materials, putting life's in danger, to me is a lack of empathy and cold heartedness.
Claire Miller chief at Clarion is fully aware of the horrific situation, and refusing to take responsibility and leaving families in dangerous homes they've sold.”
“My e-mails and calls have been constantly ignored by the sales team and there is no real complaints process. You can only complain with an on-line form so people with no internet access are denied the right to complain. The on-line complaints process is limited to 350 characters so you can't explain your experiences. And if you complain you won't get an acknowledgement or a reply.”
“Clarion are an absolute joke, leaving my MIL stuck in a room at 80 years old because they will not enlarge the access so she can get out. on verge of breakdown as the work was supposed to be done today and again they came to asses. THE amount of calls. man hours and information we have sent them is profound yet when you ring they don't know what you are talking out what a joke. They should seriously start helping their residents.”
“Clarion is probably the worst housing association in the UK. They are zero or possibly negative value for money! They practically charge an arm and a leg for nothing. The advisors are clueless and incompetent. The advisors are inconsistent with the advice they render and complaint handling. I don't know what changed between now and two years ago but the approach was slightly better and more effective 2 years ago.
I lodged a nuisance complaint 2 months ago and spoonfed them with evidence but no one at Clarion seems to know what to do or how to deal with it although they have said 'we will deal with it' - not that it is an unusual or uncommon complaint.”
“Service charge team is ignoring every single call/emails and online query (online form: https://www.myclarionhousing.com/your-home/rent-and-service-charges/service-charges/) since 24 of Febrary 2020 (for 3 months so far).
I started contacting Clarion last 24 of Febrary because they increased the service charge by 313£ annually. Adding brand new charges not present in previous years (admin fee), increasing the salaries of the caretakers by 25% (when actually, this year they reduced the number of caretakers from 3 to 2 people) and increasing the general cleaning by 327% (224£ increase; from 68.67£ to 293.44 annually).
3 months after, still NO RESPONSE.
If this continues, we will initiate legal action agaist Clarion.”
“Absolutely disgusted with Clarion. Reported back door lock failure following’bodge job’ to replace doors and windows. I reported this middle of February, spoke to a lovely lady who asked if there were any other issues. I told her many problems with kitchen,eg kitchen units broken and worktop rotten. She said she would arrange a visit 17/3 between 12-5pm. She said this was the first available appointment. I booked the day off work and waited, and waited..... until 4.30 when I phoned to ask if someone was coming. I was told” well you still have until 5pm, he maybe running late “ She said “if he hasn’t come ‘by the end of the day’ then give us a ring in the morning and we will chase it up “ Well it’s 9pm now. No show . What really infuriates me is no call, NO customer service and NO respect as a paying tenant 😡 I await your response but have a feeling it will be a long wait”
“Cannot find the words to describe how disgraceful this organisation is. They are indeed corrupt and I agree with other comments entirely.
Their loyalty lies with the investors. The way in which repairs are left, including dangerous repairs causing health and safety risks. Their call centre technology is defective. They have been harassing tenants and threatening them with eviction, even though they have not missed rent payments. We involved the MP. Service charges are paid, but services haven't been carried out for years or properly, yet when complaints are made, nothing is done. They are constantly in breach of their part of the tenancy agreement. Court action is imminent!!”
“It would take my wife and me much too long to detail all the appalling things that have happened with Clarion Housing as our freeholder and managing agent. Here's a snapshot of what we have dealt with within the last year and a half under Clarion;
- It took Clarion just under a year to register us as new flat owners; which made everything from maintenance to payment matters as well as the provision of heating (heating system linked to freeholder) extremely difficult to achieve.
- Every complaint we made had to be made repeatedly as information seemed to get lost in their system; some of our complaints were even purposely closed by Clarion before being resolved.
- The level of maintenance around our residence has only been rather poor (eg. exterior window panels almost never cleaned, bins rarely cleaned, lack of gardening) and has made it hard to reconcile with total service charge costs.
- We have only ever received partial, if not no information on what service charges to pay and when; having every time to ask for a cost breakdown, not always receiving it, and when we did, with inconsistencies. More appalling still, on two occasions, we received a letter asking for payment at the same time as a final reminder to pay including a threat to legal action in the following days.
- As owners in our building, we collectively obtained Right To Manage and got another agent to takeover; yet Clarion, despite this being formally approved and effective, continued to demand payment when this can only be done by the new agent.
We hope this very brief testimony will convince any prospective flat owner or tenant to stay clear of Clarion Housing, and altogether contribute to Clarion being brought to justice.”
