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We need the money to repair council homes, minister
Open letter to housing minister Margaret Beckett MP
• AS you are probably aware, the sale of much-needed council homes has become a very emotive subject for many tenants who live in the London Borough of Camden.
Unfortunately, we have seen a large number of properties, mainly family-size, Camden street properties, sold at public auction to the highest bidder in an effort by Camden Council to help raise direct funding to renovate Camden’s housing stock to meet the Decent Homes standard.
Camden Association of Street Properties is also aware that more Camden home sales by public auction are due to go ahead on December 2, 2008.
The association would be most interested to know whether your department continues to give ministerial permission to Camden Council for the sale of these properties?
The London Borough of Camden has a long and cosmopolitan history of which we are all part and all proud.
Our council street properties are very much a part of this valued and long tradition and have provided homes to generations of families over the years.
Historically, tenants living in these properties have always made their views known on the issue of stock transfer and selling these properties.
It is also completely ironic that many associations were set up to protect tenants from the surge in property speculation which sought to empty houses for renovation and sale.
In some areas, street properties were identified which the council purchased as part of its compulsory purchase order and for the very purpose of creating sustainable and mixed communities, the very things this government says it wants to create.
Today these homes are being sold on the open market in order to raise money in order to fund basic housing repairs.
The association is also acutely aware of Camden’s current housing crisis, with 15,000 people languishing on its housing waiting list, and feels it is impossible to justify the sale of these properties, especially as the number of overcrowded families is rising so dramatically.
The association now makes an urgent plea for money to be made directly available to help local authorities such as Camden to meet the government’s Decent Homes standard as the current situation whereby central government refuses to allocate Camden direct funding to improve its homes can only be described as ludicrous.
In addition, the government’s stance on continuing to reduce, year after year, much-needed housing subsidy to Camden Council can only continue to impact most heavily on those residents in the greatest need.
We very much ask that you treat the contents of this letter as a matter of urgency!
Mike Cookson Taylor
Chair, Camden Association of Street Properties |
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