West End letters: Housing priorities | Cllr Philippa Roe

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West End Extra - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 4 December 2009

Housing priorities

• COUNCILLOR Paul Dimoldenberg’s column (Go flat-out to help families first, November 27) does not make reference to the fact that our new scheme, which is genuinely trying to help people get a first step on the property ladder, will give priority to council and housing association tenants, followed by people on the waiting list in Westminster.
Adult sons or daughters in overcrowded families who want a home of their own are in the top priority groups and we would encourage them to take advantage of this scheme.
He also suggests that these new homes may be at risk of being sub-let.
However, he again fails to mention that it is standard practice in our all tenancy agreements to have a clause preventing sub-letting, and breach of the clause is a civil offence. We will not tolerate any tenants who seek to abuse the system.
Finally, contrary to his claims, I am also writing to reassure your readers that helping families who live in overcrowded conditions is one the highest priorities in our housing plans. We recognise the extent and the seriousness of this problem and have pledged to offer larger accommodation to 1,000 families on our current waiting list who are living in overcrowded conditions.
Our first step was to rehouse more than 40 families that need at least two more bedrooms. We are making progress and so far have rehoused 27 families from this group and will aim to offer larger homes to the remaining families.
Our programme to build almost 500 new homes, many of them family-sized properties, will also help to tackle this issue. We have also announced proposals to work with residents to develop renewal plans for four areas in Westminster. This project will significantly help the council meets its target of rehousing 1,000 overcrowded families over the next five years.
We are lobbying the government as we believe that to really tackle overcrowding there has to be an overhaul of the current legislation with the government’s temporary accommodation target being abolished and appropriate reforms to council finance pushed through.
Cllr Philippa Roe
Cabinet Member for Housing

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, West End Extra, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@westendextra.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Wednesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld.
Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number.
Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

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