|
|
 |
| |
Losers in homes for shops swap
• AT last, a clue as to where the money from the great Lib Dem sell-off of commercial properties is to be spent.
Councillor Terry Stacy advises that if Homes for Islington can improve its service to council tenants significantly then the council could gain approval to build 1,000 council homes (Homes bonanza for first time in 25 years, April 13).
But where will the infrastructure and community services to support these tenants in their new council homes come from?
These developments will be funded by the sale of retail premises as well as the continuing sale of council buildings – schools, libraries, homes for elderly people and children’s homes.
The safety and security of a neighbourhood depends on real people knowing and looking out for their neighbours, meeting and talking at shops, cafés and post offices, not just cameras and security doors.
Islington may get 1,000 new homes but tens of thousands of residents will lose services and facilities in order to provide them.
MARGARET LAMONT
Great Percy Street, WC1
• KEN Livingstone may have managed to grab a headline by calling Islington Council’s sale of surplus property “criminal”, but his one-sided diatribe completely misses the point (Sell-off is ‘criminal’, says mayor, April 13).
Every week the media carry stories about overcrowded London families, rising property prices and other aspects of London’s housing crisis. So it is good news that Islington Council is planning to tackle the waiting list by building new council housing for the first time in a generation.
It won’t be cheap but it needs doing. As you report: “Tens of millions of pounds will also be secured to fund the project once the council disposes of a large property portfolio of buildings it rents to mainly commercial tenants.”
If the investment properties once snapped up by Margaret Hodge as a nice little earner for the council can be used to fund desperately-needed homes for local people then I say: “Sell the lot”. I’m disappointed that Ken Livingstone doesn’t agree.
ROGER MORGAN
John Spencer Square, N1
• I DON’T want to see a single small shop close.
Unlike the chatterers who bleat about small shops while queuing at the checkout in Waitrose, I use my local shops every week. They are not glamorous foodie shops or designer boutiques but an ordinary row – dry cleaner, chemist, newsagent, hairdresser, café, convenience store, takeaway – which are invaluable to nearby residents.
Most are already with commercial landlords, and are still going strong. The council does not subsidise shop rents so a change of landlord should make no difference. If we want to defend shops from developers, then keeping them in council ownership is crazy. The council is much more likely to resist development plans if it no longer benefits financially.
We don’t need the council to own our shops. And we certainly don’t want Ken Livingstone – the man behind the congestion charge – setting their rent. What shops need most of all are customers. Retail therapy anyone?
MARGOT DUNN
Ringcroft Street, N7
• ISLINGTON is a diverse living community, not a clone commuter town, and I want it to stay that way. It means keeping a good range of independent small shops and providing affordable homes for ordinary people, not just the vulnerable and the super-rich.
Housing in London is in crisis. Mrs Thatcher’s right-to-buy has eroded the amount of affordable housing available. The money raised from right-to-buy was used to pay debts or salaries, not to build new homes. Today’s councillors are left with the mess of decades of bad policy decisions.
Unlike Islington’s hidden homeless, commercial tenants, including well-loved small shops, have secure leases and legal protection for their rent. Selling commercial properties to fund new social housing may not be popular but it is the right thing to do.
FERN ANDERSON
Noel Road, N1
•
SURELY, if property is sold to a new landlord, whether it involves the council or not, then the rent cannot be increased by more than a small amount. Otherwise there is recourse to arbitration.
Cannot our small shops be protected under this procedure?
RK HARRIS
Duncan Terrace, N1
• IT is galling to read Councillor Andrew Cornwell recommending that Ken Livingstone does some research before he next visits Islington.
Cllr Cornwell fails, yet again, to acknowledge that the process of commercial property sale was launched on businesses without consultation or assessment of impact on the community.
Although more than 150 small traders have provided “solid financial evidence” that they can raise a certain level of funding to purchase their property they have had to do this at the behest of the council. There has been no consideration of the timing or the suitability of this process for these businesses.
The response from business owners has been high because they recognise the need to protect their shops from the inflationary pressures and unpredictable consequences of a new private landlord.
The competition for this portfolio between property investment and development companies is being used to reach a “market value” for these properties. In many cases this will be significantly more than the funds existing leaseholders will be able to raise based on the value of their property.
The council’s choice to sell now is to take advantage of a “bullish” commercial property market. In the current buoyant market, property investors are likely to bid far in excess of the valuation of the property and businesses will not have the ability to match the values. Businesses will fail to purchase their properties or to continue in business under a private landlord as the cost of their property will treble.
Commercial “best value” is not the only concern of a council. It has a responsibility to preserve the character of the borough and services to the community. Commercial value is the Lib Dem executive’s mantra and their process has not accommodated any other concerns. They have not assessed the impact of their sale on any of the affected communities.
DALE BARTER
Islington Traders Group
Amwell Street, EC1 |
 |
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
