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Battle lines drawn up in feud over housing sell-off
Town Hall clash mocks council claims of widespread support
HOUSING chiefs were last night (Wednesday) given one of the severest warnings yet that they do not have support over plans to sell-off council properties and to broker controversial deals with the private sector, as open warfare broke out between Camden Council and its tenants.
The Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition was told in no uncertain terms that cash for repairs and improvements to council estates should not be raised by hiving off empty homes.
A series of stirring deputations at a meeting of the council’s cabinet made a mockery of the claims coming out of the Town Hall last week that tenants supported the policy and that its own survey had uncovered support for the proposals.
The fighting talk came in the same week that Alan Walter, a tenants leader from Kentish Town and a driving force behind the pressure group Defend Council Housing (DCH), was summoned to give almost an hour’s worth of evidence before a parliamentary committee of MPs debating the upcoming Housing and Regeneration Bill.
He told the committee on Tuesday that while Prime Minister Gordon Brown had made encouraging statements about building homes, his effort to make the issue a priority would be undermined if the government did not invest in its existing stock.
Mr Walter said: “Tenants have turned down privatisation and stuck out for direct investment.”
His invitation to speak in front of such an influential panel is a clear departure from the frosty relations that Mr Walter, other DCH campaigners and Camden council tenants have had with the government in recent years. It has undermined the council’s claim that the government is not interested in listening to demands for direct funding.
The government has so far told Camden that the only way it will get investment is if it gives up the management of its homes – thus robbing tenants of the chance to get rid of under-performing landlords at elections.
Mr Walter said: “Council tenants, despite being bribed with promises of new kitchens and bathrooms, have stuck it out because they believe in having a democratically accountable landlord.
“This is not an abstract principle, its not dogma – this is people wanting the opportunity to have those parts of council housing that housing associations don’t provide.”
The battle over Camden’s homes spilled open last night (Wednesday) as the council agreed to enter into ‘estate regeneration’ deals with housing associations, which will effectively see the private sector get its hands on prime homes on the landmark Holly Lodge Estate in Highgate, and the award-winning Maiden Lane Estate in Camden Town. Empty properties owned by the council will not be refurbished and face being auctioned off to the highest bidder.
Liberal Democrat housing chief Councillor Chris Naylor is insistent that while the government refuses to handover the money needed for a backlog of repairs, tenants understand that money has to be raised elsewhere and support the plans.
He said: “We made a commitment in our manifesto to getting our housing up to scratch. I’ve a clear memory of a 70-year-old in a council block who told me he had never voted before and he decided this was the time.”
Cllr Naylor said a survey – filled out by only around 1,000 of almost 24,000 possible participants – showed that residents were no longer prepared to wait.
He said: “Some have criticised us tonight, saying the process hasn’t given us a mandate – it didn’t, our election gave us the mandate.
“Even though some say we haven’t got a majority, I say the council has a responsibility to future occupants and that is who our stock needs to be kept for – not just for those living in them now.”
DCH is now determined to prove that the claim that tenants support the sell-off is skewed and have put together a petition likely to eclipse the council’s efforts at consultation.
More than 70 senior tenants leaders have signed the protest, which clearly sets out an opposition to the council’s policy. Hundreds – possibly thousands – more are likely to add their names to the petition in the coming days after the campaign group took out a newspaper advert and invited every resident in Camden to show the Town Hall what the real mood of the borough is.
The divisions between tenants and senior councillors were clearly showing last night (Wednesday).
Kathleen O’Donoghue, from Camden Association of Street Properties, said: “Many of our street properties have provided homes to generations of families.
“The present administration’s plans to sell even a limited number of street properties at a time when demand for council housing far exceeds supply will directly affect our communities and we ask: How can this be justified?”
Grace Livingstone, joint secretary of the Holly Lodge Residents Association said: “It would be a crime to sell four blocks of council housing when there is such great housing need in Camden.”
Green councillor Maya De Souza said: “It’s a very sad day when the executive are trying to sell off to a housing association. We have a scarcity of housing and here we are selling off houses.”
Labour Councillor Roger Robinson said: “This seems to be the beginning of the road to total private landlords and the end of council homes. This is selling the council silver.”
The proposals were passed and officials have been ordered to prepare homes for sale. |
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