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Working Hard with Grace Beverley

Ep.24 Here’s What The Government Doesn’t Want You To Know: Kwajo Tweneboa On The Social Housing Crisis

Working Hard with Grace Beverley

sophie@grace-beverley.com

Feminsim, Money, Ceos, Marketing, Ceo, Self Improvement, Careers, Women In Business, Stories, Advice, Business, Women Leaders, Education, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness, Success

4.2904 Ratings

🗓️ 16 January 2023

⏱️ 43 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Kwajo Tweneboa, known as the hero of social housing, is a remarkable 23-year-old campaigner demanding urgent reform in public-sector housing. Amid the housing crisis, Kwajo has emerged as an influential voice online for social housing tenants, known best for naming and shaming some of the largest accommodation associations in the UK.


Haunted by memories of his own housing hell, Kwajo joined the fight to improve conditions after his father, a care worker, died in their family home among a sea of cockroaches, mould and vermin. To make matters worse, just a week after his death Kwajo and his siblings were informed their tenancy contract had been evicted and therefore they must leave, in essence making them homeless. By some miracle, Kwajo and his family were allowed to stay, but for Kwajo this was understandably still not good enough - the conditions were still terrible.


Astounded by how he had been treated, Kwajo channelled his anguish and publicly exposed his landlord for breaching housing standards, ignoring calls and allowing his family to live in unimaginable filth. His first post went viral, reaching the attention of mainstream news and his housing association who eventually came to fix the problems. Kwajo now uses his online presence to help others share their housing horrors, becoming an active proponent for change in the UK - his campaign backed by nearly 62,000 followers on Twitter.


While a picture-perfect image for social housing still seems a world away, Kwajo's work on behalf of other tortured tenants has begun to make a real difference, his work sparking the conversation among significant journalists and MPs.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

It's the first customer of the day.

0:02.0

The unexpected 20% tip and the 100% boost to your confidence.

0:07.0

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0:12.0

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0:17.0

And with our free business account, you can manage all things money with zero hassle all in one place.

0:24.4

Make it count with SumUp. Download the app or find out more at sumup.com.uk.

0:32.1

People don't realise if you're not living in social housing, just how bad things are.

0:36.7

From when they hung the phone up on me,

0:38.3

I said to myself, now I have a point to prove.

0:41.3

What are some of the worst conditions that you've seen?

0:44.3

I could be here for an hour.

0:46.3

Their houses have been flooded with boiling hot water.

0:49.3

One lady sustained life change and burns as a result of that.

0:53.3

Her daughter's rubber wellie were melted.

0:55.0

It was that hot.

0:57.0

Cockroaches, damp, moulds, ceilings collapsing on top of people.

1:00.0

I've had cupboards collapsing and knocking one lady unconscious.

1:04.0

They're not giving enough yet they're going to come out and beg for our votes and it's a shame.

1:08.0

It really is a sad state of affairs.

1:10.0

I don't care who it is.

1:11.7

I don't care what your views are. I'll call out absolutely whoever it is that I don't

1:15.9

think is doing their job.

...

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