Reform UK has called for an immediate intervention to protect vulnerable residents of Avondale Court, a sheltered housing complex beside the Highfield House Asylum Hotel, following a string of alarming incidents involving intimidation, attempted break-ins, and persistent anti-social behaviour. Yesterday a migrant resident of the hotel was seen being arrested and detained by local police.
The party’s Southampton representatives say they’ve been inundated with distressing accounts from elderly and disabled residents who no longer feel safe in their own homes. Many report that repeated pleas for help have been ignored, leaving them at the mercy of nightly disturbances and with little faith in the authorities meant to protect them.
Over the past week, Reform UK has written to Southampton City Council, demanding they request urgent repairs to security systems and stronger safeguarding measures. The party has also pressed the housing association believed to be responsible for Avondale Court to fix broken CCTV cameras and restore the emergency call system. Letters have also gone to Hampshire Constabulary and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire Donna Jones, urging more visible policing and regular patrols in the area.
Concerns about residents’ safety and wellbeing are not new. Complaints of neglect and intimidation have been raised repeatedly at both Avondale Court, but residents say meaningful action has yet to materialise and they live in fear daily.
Dr Alexander Culley, Secretary of Reform UK Southampton, said: “We have received deeply troubling reports from elderly and vulnerable residents at Avondale Court and Avondale Houses. They tell us they feel unsafe in their own homes, let down by the authorities, and ignored when they raise concerns. These residents deserve dignity, safety and peace of mind, not broken CCTV, unanswered complaints and nightly intimidation on their doorsteps. We are demanding action from the Council, the landlord and the police before matters escalate any further.”
The party’s intervention forms part of its wider ‘Britain is Lawless’ campaign, launched last week, which seeks to highlight what it describes as a collapse of law and order in communities across the country. From antisocial behaviour in housing estates to rising crime in towns and cities, the campaign claims that ordinary people are being abandoned as authorities fail to uphold basic standards of safety and accountability.
Reform UK is now calling for a zero tolerance approach to antisocial behaviour, stronger policing and community enforcement, and greater accountability for housing providers and councils who neglect vulnerable tenants.
