Tenants’ poster row reaches Parliament
The company that manages Newark and Sherwood District Council’s housing stock has been accused of threatening tenants with eviction over their political leanings.
Newark and Sherwood Homes has been advised to steer clear of politics in a row that has reached Parliament.
Up to 20 residents in Edwinstowe received a letter from the company telling them they were in breach of their tenancies for displaying a poster in their windows saying: “No John Peck Rubbish Here Thank you.”
Mr Peck is contesting the Rufford Ward county by-election for Labour, in which voters go to the polls today.
The letter to residents displaying the poster says they are in breach of a condition that says they must not cause, or do anything likely to cause, any nuisance to, or annoy, offend or harm to people.
The letter says: “I am therefore advising you to remove the poster referring to John Peck immediately.”
In Parliament on Monday, the MP for Sherwood, Mr Mark Spencer, criticised the company’s actions.
Mr Spencer (Con) asked the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Mr Eric Pickles: “Is the Secretary of State aware that Newark and Sherwood Homes in my constituency is threatening its tenants with eviction for displaying a poster requesting not to have election literature delivered?
“Is it not unprecedented for a housing authority to step into the democratic process like that, and will he talk with the Electoral Commission about the matter?”
Mr Pickles replied: “That seems to me to be treating tenants as some 19th Century mill owner might have treated his workers.
“It is entirely inappropriate that tenants should be refused their democratic right to display a poster. I urge the returning officer to look into the injustice immediately.”
Mr Spencer told the Advertiser afterwards: “I find it profoundly worrying Newark and Sherwood Homes would threaten to evict tenants for expressing, in an entirely legal way, their political views.
“They need to take a step back from involvement in politics and get over it.
“I have seen posters like this saying: ‘No Conservative literature.’ You just note it and move on.”
Mr Peck, a district councillor in Edwinstowe, said he hadn’t made a complaint to Newark and Sherwood Homes.
A spokesman for the company said: “A tenant can display a poster, political or otherwise, in their property as is their democratic right.
“Newark and Sherwood Homes received a number of complaints from local residents in Edwinstowe regarding the content of posters being displayed in the windows of tenants which were causing offence to members of the community.
“In line with their tenancy agreement, Newark and Sherwood Homes asked that the tenants displaying the posters causing the offence remove them and the company understands that the posters have since been taken down.
“The process followed and the action taken is in accordance with the standard operations of the company when undertaking housing management.”
Mr Peck is standing against Jim Gregson (Nottinghamshire Ind) Daniel Mottishaw (Con) and Carole Terzza (UKIP).
