|
|
 |
| |
Fight to keep our housing costs down
• AT its recent meeting Camden Council’s Executive was presented with three options to do with service charges for council tenants’ rents for the coming year. Currently, there is only one service charge: caretaking.
The council is now proposing having charges for: IRS (TV reception aerials), security, grounds maintenance, CCTV, door entry, lighting, and concierge.
The council gets increased subsidies and tenants’ rents are controlled to a minimum increase of five per cent.
Currently, service charges are covered by housing benefit. However, many tenants will not know why the various service charges are being proposed and will feel aggrieved that they have never wanted service charges, or indeed may blame tenants’ leaders for, in effect, voting for more service charges. Tenants’ representatives have felt between a rock and a hard place on the issue of service charges.
On the one hand service charges may be divisive because they may more approved by those who can afford them best, even though the services are available to everyone. On the other hand, under the current Government formulae, the council gains considerable subsidies which would not be available were additional service charges to be rejected.
At a recent meeting, tenants’ reps from the five areas in Camden had mixed views about service charges.
Tenants’ leaders are concerned about service charges and how they will affect tenants’ rents in the future. It is to be hoped that the council will make every effort to ensure that tenants are fully informed about any new service charges and will keep rent rises to the absolute minimum.
PAUL TOMLINSON
Oxenholme,
Harrington Square, NW1
• Council tenants are getting organised to stop plans to sell-off council housing before they even start (‘Council homes sell-off an option’, Jan 25).
Nearly 40 people attended the meeting of Camden Defend Council Housing a couple of weeks ago, even more than used to come along at the height of the Almo campaign.
Tenants are angry that councillors who were elected on a platform of continuing to campaign for direct investment should even consider deviating from this pledge.
Thirty-four tenants representatives, four councillors and many others have already signed up to a new open letter calling on the council to reject the various privatisation options discussed by the Housing Scrutiny Committee.
The meeting also heard of recent attacks on housing associations which could lead to so-called ‘social landlords’ floating on the stock exchange, and an end to lifelong tenancies and protection on rent levels.
While this news makes us more determined than ever to resist privatisation and keep our homes safe in public ownership, we also want to join the public outcry against these proposals.
We need as many tenants representatives as possible to sign the open letter. If you want a copy, or for more information, please get in touch with us. Email us at info@defendcouncilhousing.org.uk or write to Camden DCH, 42 Aborfield, Peckwater Estate, Kentish Town NW5 2UD.
LESLEY CARTY
Secretary, Camden Defend Council Housing
• COUNCILLOR Chris Naylor (Council homes sell-offs ‘an option’ ) says “We are looking for options. Plan A, which we are committed to, is to lobby the government for direct investment. We owe it to tenants to have a plan B.
That could include seeing if there is any money within the council we could use.”
Let me try to help Cllr Naylor out.
Rather than sell the council housing family silver, I suggest that he looks at the absurdly inflated prices Camden pays to private contractors.
For example, during the Almo campaign a few years back the director of housing Neil Litherland quoted a price of £6,000 for the renovation of each bathroom or kitchen (£12,000 for a bathroom and kitchen combined).
I went to a local store and got a quote for the same quality and quantity of items for £1,500 per room fully fitted. As I was a private customer and Camden were intending to fit out 14,000 bathrooms and kitchens, it is reasonable to suppose that their price per unit would have been substantially less than mine. I have attempted to get a meaningful explanation from the council for the £6,000 figure. It has not been forthcoming.
Very large savings could have been made if a reasonable price had been put forward for the Almo renovation work, say £3,000 a room in total to cover not only the new kitchen or bathroom units, but also further work such as re-wiring and damp proofing (and not all the bathrooms and kitchens required this).
The reality is that there is plenty of money in Camden but much of it is being wasted.
ROBERT HENDERSON
Levita House,
Chalton Street, NW1 |
 |
|
|
|
