|
|
 |
| |
Ken Livingstone at the meeting |
SELL-OFF IS ‘CRIMINAL’, SAYS MAYOR
Livingstone slams council’s £45m property sale
KEN Livingstone has attacked the sell-off of more than 220 Islington Council-owned properties as “criminal”.
The Mayor of London launched the verbal assault on the borough’s ruling Liberal Democrats after he learned that traders in Town Hall-owned properties across the borough face having their rents doubled or will have to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds in mortgage payments.
The £45 million raised from the sale will be used to prop-up the council’s schools and home-building programmes.
Mr Livingstone told the Tribune yesterday (Thursday): “What Islington council is doing is criminal. They are destroying the character of the area and cutting the vital provision of local services and that is not what they were promising when they went into the election.
“They were promising to look after the borough now it just seems like if it moves sell it and if it doesn’t move you still sell it.”
Almost all of historic Amwell Street in Clerkenwell is under threat with businesses being forced to find around £600,000 so they can outbid a developer who wants to buy the whole portfolio of 222 properties.
Islington Council is letting an as yet unnamed developer value the 222 properties and will then show the bids to traders so they can match them. The successful developer is due to be announced next month.
Dale Barter, owner of the Amwell Veterinary Surgery, said if he is successful in bidding from the freehold of his business his mortgage payments will be almost triple what he was paying in rent.
Mr Barter will have to find £45,000 a year on a £600,000 mortgage instead of £17,500.
Although around two thirds of bidders have been successful in registering their interest in purchasing their properties, there is still the possibility that a large numbers will be snapped up by a developer.
The yields from rents promised to developers in sales literature from Erinaceous, which is managing the sell-off, means traders who cannot afford to buy face having their rents doubled.
Speaking after the meeting with Holloway pensioners in Manor Gardens community centre, Mr Livingstone said: “The trouble is you will strip out the entire character of an area of that happens. You end up just with the big superstores and their local branches.
“You wander around here and what makes this little area nice is interesting buildings and quite distinct local shops. If all that gets swept away and you have all the chain stores you won’t be in Islington, you could be anywhere in the world.”
The Mayor dismissed claims by Lib Dem finance chief Andrew Cornwell – who masterminded the sell-off – that Islington should “not be in the business of being a commercial landlord”.
Mr Livingstone responded: “Who’s responsible to preserve the character of the borough? The Mayor of New York has powers to control the rents of shops and so they can be preserved for decades and that’s what council should do. It’s not just about the bottom line. It’s a tragedy.”
Councillor Cornwell said: “Ken Livingstone obviously doesn’t understand the situation in Islington. More than 150 small traders have now provided solid financial evidence that they can buy their freeholds. Do Ken and the Labour Party now want to deprive them of that opportunity to buy?
“The vast majority of Islington’s small shops are already in private ownership, not council ownership, and they’re doing well.
“The council needs to raise capital to rebuild our schools and to build new social housing – something the Mayor has been urging us to do.”
“I’m usually quite a fan of Ken Livingstone, but he should do a bit more research before he makes another day trip to Islington.”
|
 |
| |
|
|
|
