A HOUSING campaigner has slammed a new report as a “whitewash” after it claimed troublesome tenants are never evicted in acts of revenge.

Daniel Harris has dismissed the Brighton and Hove City Council report into an issue he has been highlighting for months. He called for an independent investigation into the removal of residents from temporary accommodation housing.

The council investigated all evictions in a 12 month period to see if residents were being threatened and punished with eviction if they raised complaints about the standard of housing or staff after concerns voiced by residents, councillors, charities and the MP Caroline Lucas.

Around five per cent of the 939 individuals and families placed in temporary accommodation were evicted although campaigners said they believed the figure was higher.

The report said all 50 evictions were due to residents breaching their licence because of “persistent unacceptable behaviour” and no evictions were based solely on reports of disrepair by the resident or complaints about staff.

In five of the evictions repairs had been reported but officers said there was no clear correlation between reporting repairs and evictions.

The authority also considered cases highlighted by The Argus and other media but said in all instances there was no evidence there was an eviction in revenge.

The report states the Local Government Ombudsman has recently investigated a revenge eviction allegation but upheld no part of the complaint.

Officers said they record all evictions and accommodation providers had to submit evidence to support their decision including photos of damage, written reports from staff, crime reference numbers, CCTV footage and copies of warning letters given.

Mr Harris said: “It is a whitewash, the report is an absolute whitewash.

“It needs a properly independent report. While a lot of the issues are with the temporary housing providers, it is ultimately Brighton and Hove City Council that carries out the evictions so of course any investigation by it will not see it as a revenge eviction.

“Because of this cosy relationship between council and providers, somebody needs to ensure residents are being protected.

“Where have some of these people gone who were evicted – back on the streets or sofa surfing?”

A council spokeswoman said: “We are working with the temporary accommodation action group [ETHRAG], Just Life, the providers and the council to look at this issue as well as other issues facing temporary accommodation.”