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Tories’ housing agenda is bad news for our tenants
It looks as if Westminster Conservatives are keeping their housing cabinet member, Councillor Phillipa Roe, in the dark about their plans for Westminster’s council estates (Our plans will benefit Labour ward residents, Letters, September 4).
What other explanation can there be for Cllr Roe keeping quiet about the secret meeting on March 3 attended by Council leader Colin Barrow and former council leader Sir Simon Milton, who now works for Boris Johnson, together with other senior Conservative politicians to discuss the future of council housing.
The notes of that secret meeting have now been made public, thanks to a Freedom of Information request, and they make grim reading for council tenants.
The Conservative agenda for Westminster council tenants is seriously bad news for anyone who cares about fairness and social justice. For example:
l The Conservatives want to increase council rents to private market levels – in Westminster that would see council rents rise from an average of £92 a week to an average of over £220 a week, a 240 per cent increase!
l The Conservatives want to end security of tenure for council tenants and housing association tenants and replace them with the temporary “assured tenancies”.
In addition, the Conservatives want to knock down parts of council estates in Church Street, Maida Vale, Westbourne and Pimlico under the guise of “regeneration”.
This will mean that many long-standing tenants and leaseholders will be forced to move away from Westminster against their wishes.
For tenants who are forced to move, the Conservatives will say that they will offer an alternative flat elsewhere, but there is no guarantee that it will be local or affordable or in decent condition.
For leaseholders who have bought their flats, the Conservatives will say that they will offer to buy back the flat at the market value, but there is no guarantee that this will be enough to buy a flat elsewhere in Westminster.
Of course, for some people the opportunity of moving away from a badly maintained Westminster Council estate may be just what they are looking for. But for the majority there will be little choice.
This is the reality of Westminster Conservatives’ housing plans.
So why wasn’t Cllr Roe told about this secret Conservative meeting attended by Cllr Barrow and Sir Simon?
Or does she know all about it but is too afraid to tell us what she has in mind for Westminster’s council estates? Time to come clean, Cllr Roe!
cllr Paul Dimoldenberg
Leader of the Labour Group
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