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Camden New Journal by CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS
Published: 13 December 2007

‘Get tough on tenants’

NIGHTMARE neighbours must be evicted from council estates, councillors told community safety chiefs on Tuesday after learning that new Town Hall powers over tenancies had never been used.
Controversial powers to revoke or demote council tenancies were won nine months ago as a plank in the council’s strategy for curbing anti-social behaviour, but have not resulted in any evictions.
Committee chairman, Councillor Chris Philp, won support from councillors from all parties when he said: “Since the report [detailing the powers] was delivered 11 months ago, no tenancies have been revoked or demoted. If all 22,000 tenants are perfectly behaved I’d be very surprised. In extreme cases, we want to see the ultimate sanction, which is eviction, being used.”
He comments were echoed by Labour Councillor Roger Robinson, who said: “I’m very right wing on this matter. These people should be evicted and gone – but at the moment that’s not going to happen.”
But the Lib Dem community safety chief, Councillor Ben Rawlings, said the absence of evictions could show that other measures were working. He said: “I don’t think we should judge how successful this tool is by how often it is used. Making someone homeless also has a massive effect on a person. I wouldn’t want us to be evicting people as a show of force.”
The council officer in charge of the strategy, Tony Brooks, added that the first stages of what could become a demoted tenancy process had been started. He said: “Five families across the borough have had or are in the process of receiving a letter.”

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