The Death of Social Housing

It seems that not everyone is as dismayed as I am at today's announcement by Tory Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, that the statutory homeless and vulnerable will be forced into high cost, insecure, unregulated private rental accommodation.

Rachman may be dead but his spirit lives on amongst those minority of criminal landlords who just see the homeless as cash cows to be ruthlessly exploited.

Not only that but we now find that tenants may be evicted from their homes if their incomes rise during their new fixed term tenancies.

So - no more mixed communities then; just ghettos of the disabled, the unemployed and the  poverty stricken.

To complete the misery check out Hammersmith & Fulham Labour Group Leader, Stephen Cowan's report on the future "Housing Benefits Homeless Tsunami?" here

Last month I blogged about the End of Social Housing here following the decision to end capital grants for new build and instead depend on near market rents for funding.

Today though is definitely its death nail. We will have to campaign hard for its rebirth.

"Why we need rent controls" by Boris sibling and "The Firm"

Inside Housing magazine is running a great campaign against the proposed CONDEM class cleansing of poor people in prosperous and middle class Councils (my interpretation not theirs) by limiting housing benefit for tenants. This will result in mass evictions.  170,000 households in London could be affected (see link below).

This is a really important battle which I hope anyone with an ounce of social conscious will support. Unless we have balanced and mixed communities across London then we will just end up with USA style ghettos which blight entire cities.

What I was surprised to read on Dave Hill’s London blog that journalist Rachel Johnson (sister of London Mayor Boris and editor of “The Lady” magazine) called for statutory controls on rent levels as the best way of tackling high rents in central London!

More power to your elbow Rae and hope you will get Boris to agree!

(Picture is of the newly appointed *Commission only" rent arrears enforcement advisers to Tory Housing minister Grant Shapps)