Council tenants win 'segregated' garden rule fight

Residents at Westbourne Place say private tenants can access gardens, entrances and a car park, but those from social housing cannot

Council tenants have won a fight to use gardens on their estate reserved for owners of multimillion-pound flats.

Residents of Westbourne Place in London complained after being told by Octavia Housing Association they could not access the garden.

Westminster Council said recently the property's planning application had "no condition that allowed segregation".

Gates put in by luxury flats developer Redrow were "never designed to keep certain residents separate", it said.

The council is now looking into whether any planning permission was breached, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

But Ahmed Ali, resident of one of the 14 council flats, described the situation as "open discrimination".

Hamid Ali Jafari and his son Amaan could look out over the garden but not access it

Hamid Ali Jafari said his disabled five-year-old son was unable to play in the garden although he could see it from the balcony of their home.

Four bodies are involved in running the estate.

A service charge agreed for the council tenants by housing association, Octavia Housing, did not include that garden area. 

Residents had another garden area with play equipment that everyone could use.

The estate, which has 49 private homes, is looked after by the Pinnacle Property Management company.

Luxury flat developers Redrow said the installation of gates to the garden was "never designed to keep certain residents separate"

When taking responsibility for the council properties Octavia said access to the garden was "never on offer from the developer," and they did not pursue access in order to keep down costs.

But Octavia has now written to its residents telling them it has agreed a "commitment that you will be given full access to all of the gardens and you can apply for a permit to use the car park if you choose."

In a statement, it said: "We are very pleased with this outcome and we are now liaising with everyone involved to ensure these changes are permanent."

The affordable and social housing residents pay more than £200 a month service charge per home.

Mr Ali, whose son is seriously disabled and makes frequent trips to hospital, said he needed a car to carry heavy oxygen cylinders home.

He said residents had been told they would need to pay £290 in annual car parking fees.