Clarion Housing: Anger over landlord silence since cyber attack

Katy Shoot boxed up her belongings ready for a house move that was due to happen two months ago

Social housing tenants have said it is "incredibly frustrating" their calls to their landlord remain unanswered 10 weeks after a cyber attack.

Clarion Housing said it experienced a cyber security incident in June, with restoration of its systems ongoing.

Katy Shoot, who lives near Norwich, said she was expecting to move to a Clarion home two months ago, but has had no update.

Clarion Housing apologised for the inconvenience.

It manages 125,00 homes in the UK and is the biggest social housing landlord in Europe.

According to its website, following the incident in June, its telephone system is still being repaired.

Ms Shoot said she was due to be given confirmation of a 1 July move to near Aylsham, Norfolk, on 21 June but "everything went silent."

"It has remained silent since then - I'm still waiting to hear about a moving date, and to hear whether the contracts are written and ready," she told BBC Radio Norfolk.

"There's been absolutely no communication from Clarion Housing.

"It's been an incredibly frustrating process.

"Coming home after working hard, to a home covered in boxes is.... I'm not sure I have the words to share with you."

David Henry said he felt his life was in limbo and said Clarion Housing had failed to respond to his weekly attempts to contact them

Her experience is echoed by David Henry, who has been unable to complete an agreed house exchange because he says he cannot get through to Clarion staff.

The father-of-three said he wanted to leave King's Lynn and have a fresh start for him and his children in Norwich following the break-up of his marriage.

"I've found a house; the lady loves my house, I love her house - we just need Clarion to open their books and say 'let's go'," he added.

"We're living out of suitcases, we are ready to go.

"I'm just going to keep screaming and shouting and carry on as I am - I've got to for my mental health and my children's education."

The Social Housing Action Campaign wrote to housing minister Marcus Jones in July about the service to tenants following the cyber attack.

Secretary Suzanne Muner said it was "implausible" that a company of of its size was unable to answer its phones, 10 weeks after a cyber incident.

"People aren't buying this excuse," she said.

In a statement, a Clarion Housing spokesman said: "More of our services are now returning to normal and residents can report any type of repair to us through the Live Chat system on our website.

"They can also call us on our usual number to report an emergency repair.

"We have been keeping people informed through e-mails, letters and regular updates to our website.

"Nationally, we have also made 10,000 outbound calls to our older and more vulnerable residents, to ensure they have the support they need."

The company said it had reported the attack to the Regulator of Social Housing, the Housing Ombudsman, the Information Commissioner's Office and The Financial Conduct Authority.