Tackling Rubbish Together

Living in social housing means sharing spaces, and while community living has its benefits, it also comes with its challenges—especially when it comes to keeping our communal areas clean. One of the biggest concerns we’ve heard from customers is about the state of these shared spaces, particularly in areas where large blocks of homes rely on communal bins.

When I’m out and about in our communities, I always look out for how clean and tidy areas are, constantly asking myself: “Would I be happy living here?”  We all want to live in a clean and tidy environment, but when rubbish is left behind by a few, it affects everyone.

Recently, two statistics jumped out at me: last year, we removed 96.1 tonnes of waste from voids and communal areas, including fly-tipping and general rubbish. Of this massive amount, we managed to recycle 99.4%, with only 0.6% going to landfill. However, the cost to our community was significant—over £146,000 was spent on clearing fly-tipping alone. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg when you consider the additional costs of staff salaries, vehicles, and other resources—all of which are covered by the rent you pay.

To see the issue first hand, I recently spent a morning with Alex, Nick, Dave and Liam from our Estates Services team. These unsung heroes take great pride in their work, balancing a proactive schedule of planned tasks with the urgent need to respond to reports of fly-tipping.

I joined the team on a Tuesday, when they spend the entire day in Matson—one of our larger communities—clearing rubbish piled up against bins, decontaminating recycling bins so the council can empty them, and removing waste that has missed the bins after coming down the chutes. They also pick up litter from the surrounding areas.

Each day, the team moves to different parts of the city, sometimes facing disposal charges of over £2,000 at the refuse centre. When we can identify where the rubbish has come from, we do recharge the customer responsible, but prevention is always better than cure.

We know it’s not always easy to dispose of bulky items, especially without a car, but there are affordable options out there. Many local organizations offer free collections for items like electricals and furniture. Many of the items our team clears could have been recycled or placed in the general waste bins provided.

We’re committed to working with you to find better solutions to this issue. By reducing the amount of rubbish left in communal spaces, we can free up our Estates Services team to focus on improvements that will benefit the entire community, ultimately saving you money and making our neighbourhoods better places to live.

We’d love to hear your ideas on how we can improve our communal spaces. Share your thoughts, and let’s make our community a place we can all be proud of.