Lambeth Housing In Meltdown - Massive Rent Rises On The Way

[Gramsci]

Well Im not an expert on Council finance however I am involved in "Short/Life" housing.

Seems to me that Central Government does not want to subsidise Council Housing in any meaningful sense.It wants to move to a mininal social rented sector with a larger "Intermediate" housing sector-ie "Shared ownership" and various part private solutions like ALMOs.Also traditional Housing Associations dont get the funding they used to years ago.

So its getting harder for Councils to keep there stock at an affordable price and in good living conditions.I am very concerned at reducing Concierge-they were introduced to help stop drug dealers etc infiltrating estates.

If I blame Labour Councillors for anything its not being critical enough of central Government --run by there party-for not funding Social housing or HAs.Since Labour has been in power its done its utmost to finish off Council Housing.Cynically the New Labour theoreticians dont see those living in social housing as votes they need to get to win elections.

Seems to me theres a lot of Lib/Dems on this thread crowing about how terrible Labour is.I assume if the Lib/Dems get into national government they are going to have a crash programme of building affordable housing.

Im not New Labour or even that sympathetic to Labour party.However Ive had to deal with my local Councillors on housing issues.I have found them to be helpful (within the fact that they are under party discipline).Councillors arent financial experts.Councils arent businesses.

In fact under "Third Way" ideology in the bright shiny modernised future as outlined in Prospect mag Councils wont own much.They will be "enablers".So "you" the resident we be made responsible for rent increases etc within the governments parsimonious funding regime.

 

[brix]

If you're interested PM me / or post here and I'll explain the practicalities. The legal side is insanely easy.

I'm interested in standing as an independent candidate I think. How would I go about it and when's the next round of elections?

 

[Gramsci]

Its easy enough to stand but you wont get elected in certain areas unless your belong to a major party.My ward is Coldharbour its always Labour.You could dress up as a penguin and get elected in my area as long as the Labour party put you up.

Id recommend you join a party -LD/Labour/Tory --doesnt seem to matter what you believe-they are all centre parties now.

 

[brix]

Its easy enough to stand but you wont get elected in certain areas unless your belong to a major party.My ward is Coldharbour its always Labour.You could dress up as a penguin and get elected in my area as long as the Labour party put you up.

Id recommend you join a party -LD/Labour/Tory --doesnt seem to matter what you believe-they are all centre parties now.

I used to be a member of the Labour Party but that was a long time ago and I have no intention of rejoining. And I couldn't bring myself to join either the Tories or the Lib Dems. Is it entirely hopeless to stand as an independent?

 

[se5]

I used to be a member of the Labour Party but that was a long time ago and I have no intention of rejoining. And I couldn't bring myself to join either the Tories or the Lib Dems. Is it entirely hopeless to stand as an independent?

In a word yes based on the previous results - http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/NR/rdonly...E52330ADFAAA/0/LambethElectionResults2006.pdf people who werent from the main three parties did very badly BUT I believe turnout was only around the 30% mark so if you could ethuse those remaining people who didnt vote you might be in with a chance

BUT the next elections are in 2010 which its very likely will be general election day and so there will be a higher than usual turnout and everything will be overshadowed by the main Tory/Labour national contest which will result in a higher turnout and probably higher Labour vote as people will vote for the Labour MP and then Labour councillors as well

 

[brix]

In a word yes based on the previous results - http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/NR/rdonly...E52330ADFAAA/0/LambethElectionResults2006.pdf people who werent from the main three parties did very badly BUT I believe turnout was only around the 30% mark so if you could ethuse those remaining people who didnt vote you might be in with a chance

BUT the next elections are in 2010 which its very likely will be general election day and so there will be a higher than usual turnout and everything will be overshadowed by the main Tory/Labour national contest which will result in a higher turnout and probably higher Labour vote as people will vote for the Labour MP and then Labour councillors as well

What about by-elections? How do you find out when they're happening?

 

[BarryB]

What about by-elections? How do you find out when they're happening?

Go to the by election section at www.vote-2007.co.uk

BarryB

 

[lang rabbie]

Its easy enough to stand but you wont get elected in certain areas unless your belong to a major party.My ward is Coldharbour its always Labour.You could dress up as a penguin and get elected in my area as long as the Labour party put you up.

Id recommend you join a party -LD/Labour/Tory --doesnt seem to matter what you believe-they are all centre parties now.

There is a depressing self-perpetuating cycle about this. The turnout in Coldharbour (and its predecessor ward Angell) is the lowest in the borough because everyone assumes that Labour will walk it - so they do!

In 2002, only 17.2% of locals bothered to vote - I think it was slightly better in 2006, I don't have the official number to hand but IIRC it was still below 25%.

If another party or group ran an effective campaign they could win.

 

[lang rabbie]

BUT the next elections are in 2010 which its very likely will be general election day and so there will be a higher than usual turnout and everything will be overshadowed by the main Tory/Labour national contest which will result in a higher turnout and probably higher Labour vote as people will vote for the Labour MP and then Labour councillors as well

Interestingly, some Brixton wards had the highest level of people in south London not voting for the straight party slate in this year's Mayoral and GLA elections, so even if (God forbid) the elections are on the same day, I reckon that there could still be some tactical upsets.

 

[Bob]

What about by-elections? How do you find out when they're happening?

They'll normally be mentioned here. Plus they are mentioned in the SLP and the Council website.

There aren't any definitely happening in the near future. The most likely one will be in Princes (Kennington) where one of the Labour councillors now lives in Bristol and is a Parliamentary candidate there. Rather cheekily he still collects his £9k allowance for being a Labour councillor - he's been doing this for over a year now. I'm told it's quite unpopular locally so he may stand down.


http://www.samtownend.com/

 

[Bob]

I used to be a member of the Labour Party but that was a long time ago and I have no intention of rejoining. And I couldn't bring myself to join either the Tories or the Lib Dems. Is it entirely hopeless to stand as an independent?

In Coldharbour you could get elected if 1000 people voted for you. If you spent a couple of months knocking on doors you could probably do that.

 

[sexton]

Don't Jump Without Looking!

The full Report being presented by officers to councillors is now up on the Council's web page at -
http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/moderngov/Published/C00000225/M00006235/AI00006295/$05FinancialpositionoftheHRACabinetreport_v1.docA.ps.pdf
but it is does not adequately explain why this matter suddenly needs to be urgently addressed. There is little in the report to suggest that all the problems addressed were not foreseeable at the begining of the year, and that there should have been no problem if they were managing properly.

Councillors need to ask some searching questions: could it be that officers are trying to panic them into a rushed decision, without proper consultation, in order to get a bigger budget to spend, so as to make their lives easier?

Anyway, interested parties can now read it for themselves, and should ask their ward councillors to explain it for them. That way councillors will have to read the document themselves or, at least, ask officers to explain it to them.

 

[Bob]

As far as I can make it out (from page 9) their explanation is:

£5m needed because housing is empty more often than anticipated, and rental income isn't as much as they anticipated
£1m because they're not being as successful as anticipated at collecting the rent
£1.5m for something called s20 (anyone understand that?)
£0.8m because parking / garage income has come under budget (presumably this in on estates not standard street parking)

Wow they're good at writing in bureaucratic rubbish. I work with government but this practically requires a degree in local government finance to understand.

Basically the options seem to be:
Increase rents by £5 from December, or
Increase rents in April - but cut more central staff - which they're not really sure how to do.

Plus lots of things around higher garage charges / heating bills etc.


Clickable link here:
http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/moderngov/Published/C00000225/M00006235/AI00006295/$05FinancialpositionoftheHRACabinetreport_v1.docA.ps.pdf

 

[se5]

£1.5m for something called s20 (anyone understand that?)

my reading of this is that the s20 £1.5million is income that the council receives from council leaseholders, ie people who have bought (or more likely now have bought from the original right to buy purchaser) their flats in a block but who have to pay the freeholder (Lambeth) for general improvements to the block - the letters such leaseholders get are called section 20 notices (presumably its section 20 of a piece of housing legislation)

If my experience is anything to go by the council hasnt quite got the right idea about the garages - we recently got a letter from the council saying that we could rent a vacant garage in the basement of a nearby council block, when investigating further it was around £40 a month which seems a very high price to pay when compared with the free parking available on the street. As a result of this the garages all still seem to be empty

 

[melmaloney]

I don't understand -

*

 

[melmaloney]

I DO understand . . .

I have read the document -
http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/moderngov/...v1.docA.ps.pdf - and I can now say that I understand less about what Lambeth Housing are trying to acheive than I did originally.

The people who wrote it have not told us why they need the money NOW, and why they have not waited to go through the usual rent setting process, allowing Area Forums and Tenant Council to ask questions.

There seems to be little change in the position of the HRA from last year or the year before.

Is this a badly written document, showing that they really don't understand the position, or are they trying to hide something from us?

Surely even these useless councillors (who obviously don't live in Council housing themselves) - half of whom couldn't be bothered to drag themselves away from the pub to attend the original meeting at which it was decided to hit us with a £10 increase - are not going to let this get by without asking the obvious questions which need to be answered?

Why not call your councillor and let if know that you won't be voting for it in 2010 unless it can convince you that it is worth your vote? Ask it if it has another job or a mortgage to pay, and remind it that life is not always so easy!

 

[brixtonworker]

In Coldharbour you could get elected if 1000 people voted for you. If you spent a couple of months knocking on doors you could probably do that.

It's definitely worth standing to be an independent councillor in Lambeth next time round (2010) - not just in Coldharbour.

Disillusion with the three major parties is so great that anyone who has anything interesting to say and who speaks from the heart will be welcomed by the electorate with open arms. Especially if you have a group of people around a school or estate, and you focus on key local issues.

We're probably not going to take over the Town Hall overnight, but just one or two independent voices on the Council, not tied to party discipline or ideology, could have a massive difference in shaping the agenda.

I just came across this site which provides info to people thinking of standing as an independent candidate: http://www.picx.co.uk/frame.html

 

[melmaloney]

An Independent View.

It's definitely worth standing to be an independent councillor in Lambeth next time round (2010) - not just in Coldharbour.

Disillusion with the three major parties is so great that anyone who has anything interesting to say and who speaks from the heart will be welcomed by the electorate with open arms. Especially if you have a group of people around a school or estate, and you focus on key local issues.

We're probably not going to take over the Town Hall overnight, but just one or two independent voices on the Council, not tied to party discipline or ideology, could have a massive difference in shaping the agenda.

I just came across this site which provides info to people thinking of standing as an independent candidate: http://www.picx.co.uk/frame.html

I admit that this is interesting, and if there are six or seven well known candidates, like Ros Griffiths, Ros Munday, Lee Jasper, John Howard, David Pritchard-Jones and Julian Heather, standing as Independents, it would have possibilities. (I haven't spoken to any of these people about it. I merely put up the names of people known for their independent vioews.)

The trouble with a lot of the present councillors is that they only get elected because they stand on a Labour ticket.

A rat would stand a good chance of getting elected if it stood as a Labour candidate in 2 or 3 wards. ​

Even so, campaigns are costly, and independents do not get administrative support or representation on the important committees.

Could the answer be to form a Lambeth Party, supporting a common policy:

An Executive Mayor
Proper Officer training and discipline
Performance monitored delivery
Real Equalities Impact Assessment, etc
A real commitment on Equalities, not just lip service​

I would be interested in hearing from anyone interested in pursuing this, though its policy would have to be minimal, and acceptable to the whole group.

 

[Bob]

I admit that this is interesting, and if there are six or seven well known candidates, like Ros Griffiths, Ros Munday, Lee Jasper, John Howard, David Pritchard-Jones and Julian Heather, standing as Independents, it would have possibilities. (I haven't spoken to any of these people about it. I merely put up the names of people known for their independent vioews.)

The trouble with a lot of the present councillors is that they only get elected because they stand on a Labour ticket.

A rat would stand a good chance of getting elected if it stood as a Labour candidate in 2 or 3 wards. ​

Even so, campaigns are costly, and independents do not get administrative support or representation on the important committees.

Could the answer be to form a Lambeth Party, supporting a common policy:

An Executive Mayor
Proper Officer training and discipline
Performance monitored delivery
Real Equalities Impact Assessment, etc
A real commitment on Equalities, not just lip service​

I would be interested in hearing from anyone interested in pursuing this, though its policy would have to be minimal, and acceptable to the whole group.

Ros Munday stood as a Lib Dem candidate in 2002 & 2003. She then moved to supporting Labour in 2006. My impression is that she's now independent of any party - certainly not pro Labour now.

Julian Heather is a Lib Dem councillor in Streatham! A very nice guy in my experience.

 

[lang rabbie]

£1.5m for something called s20 (anyone understand that?)

I think this is a reduction in the income Lambeth had assumed they could get by charging the leaseholders of former "right-to-buy" properties for works to their blocks, only to discover that the Council had failed to notify any of the leaseholders before the work started.

Section 20 of the the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 which IIRC has now been in effect since late 2003 (only five years!) gave leaseholders a statutory right to be consulted

Failure to consult before entering into long term agreements or before carrying out specific works, and which would cost any leaseholder more than the prescribed amount, will result in the landlord being unable to recover more than the prescribed amount from any leaseholder.

 

[Bob]

I think this is a reduction in the income Lambeth had assumed they could get by charging the leaseholders of former "right-to-buy" properties for works to their blocks, only to discover that the Council had failed to notify any of the leaseholders before the work started.

Section 20 of the the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 which IIRC has now been in effect since late 2003 (only five years!) gave leaseholders a statutory right to be consulted

That's bizarre. When I was a leaseholder in Lambeth I got informed about charges - which were pretty big (they installed a new lift in my block of flats - so it was something like £2,000 each).

Presumably somebody's sued them for this? Has this been in the local media? It's a major scandal in its own right - I'd guess that hundreds of leaseholders have been done over...

 

[melmaloney]

Just a normal girl

So, what did they decide at last night's Cabinet?

 

[charcol]

So, what did they decide at last night's Cabinet?

As I understand it, the proposed £5 increase in December will not go ahead. However, the increase next April will be £10 to £14 per week - the exact figure will depend on how much central Government allows.

In the meantime there will be (more) service cuts starting almost immediately. Not sure about the details, but all external decorations have been halted.

 

[sexton]

Cabinet's Decision

It was confirmed that charges for heating and lighting would be increased by 62%, as prerviously agreed.

There will be no increase in rents until next April, when they will be raised to the maximum permitted level without forfeiting subsidy - possibly as much as £13-14 per week.

The allowance to TMOs will be reduced by £4.5 million p.a. over the next 18 months.

Expenditure generally will be trimmed and 130 Officers will be made redundant.

It has also being suggested that there may be a sale of some long term voids, which would provide funds to bring others back into use.

Provided that there is no further undisclosed expenditure and that they win the action being brought against them by the Legal Action Group of TMOs, it is hoped that these measures will bring the HRA to balance within 18 months.

 

[melmaloney]

Is it fair to make hard working tenants pay for incompetent management?

What an odd way of tackling worklessness! The whole cost of councillor and officer incompetence has been loaded onto those residents who live in council properties, and will be felt most by the men and women on low incomes who work. (People on benefit won't have to pay anything extra.)

An extra £20 a week will cause real hardship to the working tenant.

 

[melmaloney]

Who are the 130 officers that will be made redundant?

Neighbourhood housing offices have already been closed down all over the borough, and if any more front line staff are sacked the service will collapse.

Time now to get rid of some of those senior officers on £70kpa +, who. with idle, over-paid and uncaring councillors, are principally responsible for the mess we are in.

How much is still being paid to consultants?

Why do we need them at all?

 

[Bob]

What an odd way of tackling worklessness! The whole cost of councillor and officer incompetence has been loaded onto those residents who live in council properties, and will be felt most by the men and women on low incomes who work. (People on benefit won't have to pay anything extra.)

An extra £20 a week will cause real hardship to the working tenant.

If you're on benefits then often you'll have to pay around 35% of any increase like this - so you will have to pay something.

But you're right that it's worse for people on low incomes but not on benefits. Somebody on 50% more than the minimum wage gets about £17k per year. So £13 a week (=£676 per year) is a 4% fall in income. For somebody on minimum wage it's 6% of incomes. Ow.

 

[onemansview]

If you live in council housing -

1. You must be very idle, very stupid, or hopelessly inadequate or you would have got your act together and have a place of your own.

2. Even if you paid twice as much for the place in which you now live, you would not be unlikely to find comparable accommodation with a private landlord on similar terms, and it is unlikely that you could afford to buy a place of your own.

3. The place in which you live (and probably everything else that you have) has been paid for by the work of others, who pay for it out of their taxes

4. If you lived in many countries in the world, you would have nothing and would have to fend for yourself.

5. Most people living in such countries (and many in this country) would be very happy to live in the comfort that you enjoy.

7. You are in no position to demand anything. Remember you are in a minority, that the economy is in recession, and that there are millions on council waiting lists all over England.

So why don't you all shut up, enjoy the good things that you have been given, and show some respect towards those people who work hard to provide them for you - housing officers, councillors, and the people who work to pay for their own homes and pay taxes to pay for yours. You could be a lot worse off.

 

[brix]

Firky, is that you?

 

[FridgeMagnet]

No, just some random twat I believe.