Just what is a profit-seeking company doing running social landlords? Like those companies, Mears is operating in low margin businesses, facing competition for contracts that, for the most part, do not allow for significant amounts of profit to be made. It is not unusual for IACs to seek very temporary overspill places in hotels when there are spikes in the number of asylum seekers entering the UK; there was such a spike in 2019. MPS has been caring for residents' homes for over 25 years. In other Mears contract areas, similar examples were emerging. As a result a range of different investors own stakes in the company. I wish you good luck and the very best in your fight for a decent place to live Grandview, MO Continuing delays, disrepair and insanitary conditions have caused one local authority to decide it will tell the Home Office to end its contract with the Mears Group, and will take asylum housing back in-house. Right now a window has burst open in the middle of night and we cant close it as it was held shut for 8 years by 1 nail only. But it is far from certain the company can be trusted to provide decent homes for refugees. This model of local public provision was attacked by Conservative and Labour governments from the 1980s on. I thought they meant I was to be deported. Asylum seekers are also having to spend longer in asylum housing or hotels waiting for interviews and decisions. If you have a business or service related enquiry, you can email us, call us on 01304 203977. The Home Office operate a number of regional contracts to facilitate this. Barnsley has been inspecting all the licensed HMOs which Mears has been using. These items help the website operator understand how its website performs, how visitors interact with the site, and whether there may be technical issues. The Milton Keynes deal is not the first time Mears has had to deal with overcharging allegations, or with whistleblowers. Later, Morgan said he was suing the Labour Group over the issue. Until the 1980s, social housing was very largely the responsibility of elected Local Authorities. If you have no other means of support you will be provided with accommodation on a no choice basis by one of UKVIs contracted accommodation providers; in Newcastle the housing provider is Mears. If you have had a positive decision on your asylum claim and have received refugee leave or some other form of leave to remain then you will be required to leave your asylum accommodation. Please contact the Asylum Teamat asylum@newcastle.gov.uk. Downloads. Mears is a public limited company (PLC), meaning its shares can be bought and sold on the London Stock Exchange. Newcastle upon Tyne Mears staff and NHS staff also eat the food in the hotels along with residents. Its critical that ministers recognise this crisis and act to ensure some of the most vulnerable people in our society are protected. In early November, the Independent reported on Mears cases in Halifax, Leeds and Sheffield where Asylum seekers (were) left in houses with no heating in rat-infested homes. But we have no way of knowing the true scale of harm or dangerous situations resulting from the new contracts. Mears is one of the UK's biggest maintenance and repairs contractors, working on over 650,000 homes for councils and housing associations. The group, formed of housing, community, human rights and legal organisations, wants the Home Office and contractor Mears to improve living conditions. Mears does have another smaller MoD contract since 2016 it has run the militarys substitute service family accommodation, to find private sector housing for military personnel. Outside the properties there were piles of rubbish near the street entrance. (24-hour service for emergencies) Find out about call charges. I have been living in hotels since 8 October 2019, he told me. I could not afford the move as I already paid over 7000 of my student loan to Mears as rent. UK Benefits System. additional documentation. At the end of 2017, Omega managed around 1,000 properties, and Plexus over 1,700. So, what next for Mears? You have rejected additional cookies. The solicitor can talk to you about legal aid and, if you are eligible, they will apply for this this so that you do not need to pay for their services. Links. All rights reserved. More broadly, it involved a spreading ideology of privatisation: repeating the mantra that private companies were more efficient at running services. We must not give up fighting back and scrutinizing this company. T: +61 (0)2 9964 9733 F: +61 (0)2 9964 9924 It is based in Gloucestershire, but works all over the UK. This also means your children will go to a free . This comes across clearly from Mears website page on its affordable housing operations. Consistent profits have allowed Mears to pay millions out in dividends (the jargon for the cash paid out) to its shareholders. Ann Arbor, Michigan. We will push for the Mears contract to be terminated by the Home . Other areas where complaints about Mears have made the news for the wrong reasons include the London boroughs of Walthamstow and Islington, where they work for Family Mosaic housing association (now part of Peabody Group), and also Cornwall. . If you have been granted refugee status, discretionary leave or humanitarian protection you will have similar rights to UK citizens, unless you have been granted discretionary leave with no recourse to public funds. And in July, the council made a number of U-turns to bring community engagement, neighbourhood employment, and repairs management teams back in-house to council control. St Philips Vicarage The Mears Group, which has the Home Office contract to house asylum seekers in Glasgow has been heavily criticised for its decision to move around 400 asylum seekers in Glasgow claiming it was necessary because of problems securing lets during the lockdown, which campaigners say had put the physical and mental health of asylum seekers at risk. If you feel you have skills and experience needed, please apply via the link or contact Beth on or 07514315737, quoting the job reference number. Clearsprings, Mears and Serco are contracted by the Home Office to provide housing for people seeking asylum, as part of a 4bn ten-year contract. I clean my own room here, nobody cleans our rooms in some of the hotels. Mears home care division provides care to 15,000 older and disabled people. But landlords are also frustrated and angry. This was slightly down on the previous year but overall Mears has grown quickly. There are already hints to what could happen in Mears accounts. In the evening, for dinner, around 6.30 everyone gets chips and a packet of crisps thats all. They move us regularly. There is in effect an asylum housing landlord strike across the county. Corporate-critical news and research since 1996, Mears Group: scandal-hit council housing profiteer turns asylum landlord. Call Childrens Panel if youre a child in the UK on your own and applying for asylum. Would love your thoughts, please comment. Asylum Support Application UK You have accepted additional cookies. Terraquests main work is land referencing researching and identifying rights over property, including ownership rights but also things like planning permission. Copyright Mears Group PLC. Tel: 0191 230 4777www.newcastlelawcentre.co.uk. Serco Group Pty Limited Level 24 60 Margaret Street Sydney NSW 2000 Australia. The Mears Scotland contract will be up for renewal in 2020. A new contract to house the 5,000 or so asylum seekers resident in Glasgow with Mears Group has started, but while the new operator has announced it will not carry out "lock change" evictions . According to its latest annual report, Mears works on over 14% over 650,000 of the social homes in the UK. The Old Mill. It has set up a 30 million fund for this sideline. Lettings and management services included. Scottsdale, AZ Asylum housing tenants simply do not complain, and are often frightened about challenging any official, including their landlord. The properties here are to be demolished at a later time. To describe its new business approach overall, Mears likes to use a current regeneration buzzword Placemaking. Mears has 6,500 employees and a footprint across the country. At the time of writing, the top five biggest stakes are held by investment funds: Most companies on the stock market have similar ownership profiles, with no single investor having close to a majority stake. These items allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language, or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. Email. 2020, when 7 Scottish MPs cited "no confidence" in the "evaluation" into the impact of Covid-19 on asylum-seekers, with the group walking out of a meeting with government officials, and supporting calls for a full independent inquiry . Address 324 West Gore Street . Our role is in liaison with these private contractors to try and ensure that they can respond to local circumstances and to then manage the move-on arrangements when people are granted refugee status. According to its published accounts, the new activities in its housing and care businesses have not been funded by taking on lots of extra debt. Back News; Subscribe. 407-839-1570. Mears have secured three of seven Home Office contracts that are collectively valued at 1.2 bn over the 10-year term. A private "social housing" business, Mears Group, is about to become one of the UK's biggest refugee landlords, winning three ten year asylum accommodation contracts from the Home Office worth a total 1.15 billion. When you join our team, you join a dynamic culture in which career development is encouraged, excellence is rewarded and diversity is valued. Most obviously, as it says on its website, Land Referencing is a crucial tool for property developers it enables developers to acquire land and rights over land to meet their development requirements in a timely manner.. These items are used to deliver advertising that is more relevant to you and your interests. In January 2015, North Lanarkshires Labour council hit a crisis, as one Labour councillor named Tommy Morgan was sacked from his role as chair of the audit and governance panel. I think the job of a local council is to do its best to make sure that all its residents have safe and decent homes to live in., A crisis for asylum housing tenants in Mears housing in South Yorkshire. The Mears Housing Group, an outsourcing company working in housing management and home care, are the UK's biggest refugee landlord, who have three 10-year asylum accommodation contracts from the Home Office worth a total 1.15 billion from when the contracts started. These items allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language, or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. But there may also be something more. Failings in one branch saw people left without medicine and meals. Merrimack, NH His career has been advising businesses on financial deals such as raising money or buying other companies. The Local Authority is not responsible for placing or accommodating asylum seekers. But this crisis suggests that hotels are being used not just as overspill but as mainstream asylum housing. Complaints in Parliament and in the media. All rights reserved. Advertising networks usually place them with the website operators permission. Contact top employees from Mears Group, Inc. B. Britta Pohlman - Storm Water Coordinator I emailed my emergency contact at Mears, who unsurprisingly was on holiday and unavailable. This storage type usually doesnt collect information that identifies a visitor. That puts Mears value on a par with companies such as lorry firm Eddie Stobart and Hotel Chocolat. opportunity that fits your companys profile, a representative will reach out to you for "The use of hotels to house asylum seekers is unacceptable - there are currently more than 45,500 asylum seekers in hotels costing the UK taxpayer 5.6m a day. Mears men told me that there were just now 800 people in the hotels. He ran Mears social housing division and was chief operations officer, before rising to CEO in 2010. . To keep growing, Mears is expanding into new business lines, such as building its own housing developments and running its own regeneration schemes. Of course, this personally benefited many local politicians and managers who moved into well-paid private sector jobs. According to the union, workers at Manchester Mears and Manchester Working (a joint venture with the council) were being paid up to 3,500 less than colleagues for undertaking the same work. Mears now provides care for 15,000 people a year. We take anti-social behaviour very seriously. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Gas Engineer. Houston, Texas 77008. This is the first time Mears has worked as a refugee landlord. Cllr Wood said Sheffield, too, was prioritising inspections of asylum houses and concentrating resources there. The Guardian understands that the private housing provider Mears, which is subcontracted by the Home Office, has moved more than 300 people from mainly self-contained apartments into hotels over . . The crisis in the Mears contract in South Yorkshire and the North East has meant that there is very little housing for asylum seekers to go to from Urban House, and so many are being accommodated in hotels across West Yorkshire and Humberside. To give a few examples, non-executive director Julia Unwin is a high-flyer in the charity sector who also has a foot in the privatised water business. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Robina Qureshi, PAIH's director, said: "We were getting messages in WhatsApp saying they were . Moreover, Mears understands the importance of supporting each person whilst living in its accommodation and to ensure that as a company it works with the communities in which it delivers services. We have a formal complaints process which aims to make sure all formal complaints are recorded, investigated and responded to fairly and in a timely manner. As a result, while a company may be acting primarily in the interests of its shareholders, responsibility for its actions is difficult to lay at the door of any one shraeholder. Mears Group, Inc. is a private company. The mears group have taken over the contract to house asylum seekers in Scotland. In September, the Mears Group, an outsourcing company working in housing management and home care,became theUKs biggest refugee landlord, starting three 10-year asylum accommodation contracts from the Home Office worth a total 1.15 billion. Tel: 0191 273 7482www.wers.org.uk, British Red Cross Rockledge, FL Recently, people have been dispersed to some totally unsuitable Mears houses. We have been renting a considerable number of properties to Asylum seekers ever since the home office contracts began. Allegations involving overcharging scams and corruption hang over deals from Brighton and Scotland. Newcastle upon Tyne In some cases, for example in Manchester or North Lanarkshire, Mears works through joint venture companies set up together with local authorities. As a result Mears has had to scale back its ambitions. Main picture: a Mears sponsored networking event with senior council and housing association managers. Mears Group. He then found a home at Mears in 2013, becoming Chairman of its social landlord businesses Omega and Plexus. Our culture is about supporting an environment where all employees can be themselves, are valued and have an equal opportunity to succeed. Last time they sent somebody who said he had come up from near London, Ruth said. Mears other big government tender was less successful. Miles 2017 pay included a basic salary of 369,000 plus 55,000 pension contribution and 19,000 taxable benefits. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Quanta Services, we can . Executive Offices. Mears says its care workers are paid above minimum wage and that it is central to our strategy that care workers are properly recognised as the skilled workers they are. Mears has been awarded contracts for Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North East, Yorkshire and the Humber. This storage type usually doesnt collect information that identifies a visitor. Aurora, Illinois. Residents on the first estate targeted, Fullers Slade, protested at being let down and ignored by YourMK. The company currently specializes in the Construction area . The contracts are for ten years., The contracts are part of the way in which the UK Government meets its duty to provide asylum for those seeking international protection in the UK., To deliver the contracts, Mears will draw on their outstanding 30 year track record of providing housing, housing maintenance and care services all across the UK, with a strong footprint in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North East and Yorkshire.. When you visit websites, they may store or retrieve data in your browser. While those seeking asylum have no choice over where in the UK they are dispersed to, we take great pride in the fact that so many refugees chose to settle here once their claim for asylum is determined. In Belfast, the BBC reported in September that a woman asylum seeker reported water leaking into her kitchen. But, less than two years into the scheme, the wheels started to fall off. Despite our size, Mears remains a family company . It told maintenance teams they needed to shave in order to wear appropriate dust masks effectively. Email:feedback.mearsliving@mearsgroup.co.uk. Its flagship regeneration contract in Milton Keynes may be hitting the skids, while it has recently lost a major deal in its own home turf of Gloucestershire. Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm. Detailed knowledge of current standards and legislation. For more information about Newcastle:City of Sanctuary and the partners involved please visit City of Sanctuary. Mears paid out 12 million in 2017, up from 11 million the year before. But he was also eligible for a bonus on top of his salary of up to 774,000, which would have taken his income well over the million mark.