Housing company office move out of Ulverston dubbed 'disappointing'

South Lakes Housing currently has a base in the business centre which it occupies two days a week currently. However, the company has now said that due to decreased footfall and poor access it has decided to move out.

Dave Webster, Ulverston Town councillor, said: “I am totally disappointed in them for moving out of Ulverston.

“It is taking away a service here. They have a duty of care to their residents.

“I know the business centre office was not ideal, but it doesn’t mean to say there aren’t other premises they can use.

“Not everyone likes to use the phone to discuss these things and not everyone can go online or are technology savvy.”

The closest office for residents to visit now is based in Kendal.

A spokeswoman for South Lakes Housing said: “South Lakes Housing has taken the decision with support of the SLH Board not to renew the lease for our Ulverston office to move to a more efficient and customer-focused way of working.

“This decision has been made as the Ulverston office had only been open two days a week.

“We have been monitoring the customer usage for some time and footfall levels have continued to drop.

“The office has always been far from ideal as it is not fully accessible to customers with mobility issues or with young children in buggies. This decision was supported by South Lakes Housing Tenants’ Committee’.

“We will continue to have staff based locally with technology that will enable them to visit customers in their home and they will utilise community buildings and meeting room facilities such as the Croftlands Community Centre, Coronation Hall etc.

“This will give customers access to the vast majority of services previously offered at the office.

“For those elderly or vulnerable customers who are unable to access services online, we’ll continue to provide a telephone and visiting service and we can be contacted on 0300 303 8540 or by emailing: customerservices@southlakeshousing.co.uk.”