Communication from DCH

Defend Council Housing is producing a new eight page newspaper
The newspaper will report on the latest threat from Secretary of State Ruth Kelly to scrap the lifelong secure tenancy that we enjoy as well as provide analysis of Professor John Hills report on the 'Role of Social Housing', the Cave Review of Housing Regulation that DCH gave evidence to along with updates on the campaign to win the 'Fourth Option' to improve existing and build new council homes.

Please put together a few words so that we can maintain the usual broad range of voices from tenants, trade union leaders, councillors and MPs. An up to date photo to run with it would also be appreciated.

Areas you might want to address could be:

• Support for 'Fourth Option' to "improve existing and build new council homes"
  
  
• Holding government to 2005 Manifesto Commitment "By 2010 we will ensure that all social tenants benefit from a decent, warm home with modern facilities."
  
  
• Ruth Kelly suggesting scraping lifelong secure tenancies
  
  
• Opposition to time limiting or means testing council housing for only the poorest or those in most desperate need - how does this help create 'sustainable communities'?
  
  
• Implementing Composite 10 passed at Labour Party conference last September and NEC statement promising working group would deliver "conclusions early next year".
  
  
• United campaign by tenants, trade unions, councillors and MPs is a force that can win
  
  
• Government needs to listen
  
  
• Private housing market failing - investment in decent, affordable, secure and accountable public housing makes sense. If we didn't have council housing today we'd have to invent it.
  
  
• Disgraceful that ALMOs told to slow down Decent Homes improvements and ignore 2010 deadline - right to demand ALMOs revert back once they've completed Decent Homes work
  
  
• Choice has to include 'level playing field' for council housing
  
  
• Wrong that government has taken £45 billion in 'right to buy' and £6 billion in stock transfer receipts and has not reinvested this to fund improvements to council homes and estates
  
  
• Not justified to continue to siphon money off tenants rents and deny improvements
  
  
• Subsidies for home ownership schemes shouldn't be funded by robbing money from council housing
  
  
• Opposition to proposals to deregulate housing (including increasing public subsidies to private developers/landlords and scraping rent controls or delegating authority to quango)
  
  

We would also appreciate advance orders for the newspaper (£18 per 100 copies / £100 per 1000 copies) and encourage tenants organisations to order copies of the 'Dear Gordon' pamphlet for tenants reps, councillors and trade unionists in your areas (£1.50 per copy for bulk orders)

Alan Walter
Chairperson Defend Council Housing

 

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Quote for DCH newsletter 12 March 2007 from Doncaster Federation

I am not surprised to read this. I truly believe that all Government ministers, past and present, must wake up in the wee small hours and suddenly think "What can I throw at council house tenants this week?" Then promptly fall asleep to awaken and try to put it into force! Where else could they get such off the wall ideas? I and many of my colleagues in Doncaster feel that we "sold out" certainly against our principles when we elected to go to ALMO. It was alright us sitting in fairly decent council homes but knowing that other tenants were perhaps living in conditions more suited to the early 1900s we couldn't live with ourselves.

Now, as we all prophesised, 2010 will very likely become 2014. There still won't be the funding to do the "Doncaster Plus" we offered our tenants! which is no more than they deserve. In safe, warm affordable housing. Because there isn't room to build in for inflation by the time we get, if we do, the funding we will have to cut back on the original programme.

To add insult to injury Ms Kelly now wants to revert to the last century means testing to force tenants to relinquish their hard fought for security of tenure. Only gained in 1985.

I am disgusted that yet again the tenants are being "shafted".The obscene amount of money poured into the Governments coffers from council rents and still treating council tenants' like something on the sole of their shoe!

"Regeneration" "Mixed Tenure" "Sustainable Communities", is, in my opinion, another way of saying "Council house tenants' are sitting in homes on prime building land which we can sell to developers for huge cash amounts to give private developers "A view that people would pay £200,000 for!!" Why can't tenants keep that lovely view? I was told I just didn't understand. I DO understand that many do not care that tenants who have lived in an area for 40 years or more, raised their children, buried their spouses,lived and loved in a community and seen the decline and changes around them. Worked hard to improve the neglected badly managed housing estates and are succeeding albeit slowly to bring back respect for one another. They are then told "We are going to improve your estates for you" Pat, Pat on the head of course, whilst we pull our forelock and removing the straw from between our teeth say "Oh thank you so much"

We are then told "Of course you will have to move out, we haven't got enough empty houses for you to move back into the area you live in, but we have some right across the other side of the Borough, I know you are 80 years old but you will still make friends!" Then of course estates spring up with 70% private ownership and 30% shared ownership!! But of course this is all done under the guise of doing this for our own good.

I have to say that although we fought against an ALMO for years at least with the SLA's (Service Level Agreements) we have now our tenants' aren't paying twice for goods and services through our rents and our council tax now. There aren't as many fingers in the "Ring fenced" Housing Revenue account now either! Again although it goes against the grain have to admit that services have improved It has taken a lot of hard work on everyone's side but we are coming up for inspection on the 26th of this month and I am confident with the improvements and the work that has been done we will gain the coveted two stars. Touch wood!

But we all know that even as we conquer one hill there are another seven hills in front of us, including now Professor John Hill!!

We, Doncaster Federation of Tenants' & Residents' Associations fully support the aims of DCH to campaign against the abolition of secure tenancies. To any form of means testing. The "evictions" of tenants into smaller homes, or out of council housing altogether whether they want to or not. To ensure that the RTB and LSVT monies are used where they rightly belong. Within council social housing. Doncaster Federation of TARA's is still fighting against Introductory Tenancies although we fully support Demoted tenancies. To have ALL secure tenancies abolished and return to the days of Peter Rachmann is abhorrent.

sincerely,

Lyn Ralph,
Chairperson, Doncaster Federation of Tenants & Residents Associations.