Bulldozing homes, bulldozing lives

The Tory war on council and social housing has taken a sinister twist this week with Prime Minister David Cameron backing proposals to bulldoze entire council estates. Those evicted will not be guaranteed alternative homes while the sites are rebuilt.

Thousands will lose their lifelong tenancy rights and face higher rents if and when the sites are redeveloped. At Prime Minister’s question time on Wednesday (January 13) Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn rocked David Cameron into admitting he had not thought the plans through and could not guaranteed a right to be rehoused for those evicted before the bulldozers are sent in.

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said it was another front on the Tory war on homes for rent and would amount to social cleansing of some of the most deprived areas. He said you did not get rid of poverty by evicting the jobless to make them homeless.

Just two per cent

The Tory Housing Bill will force councils to sell off high value council homes to subsidise private house sales for ‘affordable’ homes valued up to ÂŁ450,000. Corbyn hammered Cameron at Prime Minister’s questions this week with research from housing charity Shelter, showing these homes would only be affordable for two per cent of those hoping for a home.

He taunted Cameron with government figures that showed a decline in younger people able to own their own homes. That sat alongside a collapse in the amount of affordable housing for rent.

The Housing Bill will push up council and social housing rents if households earning more than ÂŁ30,000 a year and ÂŁ40,000 a year in London. The move would massively push up rents for many public sector workers such as nurses, teachers, firefighters and police and those earning low pay.

The government also dropped a bombshell amendment to the Bill which will end secure lifetime tenancies, making council tenants even more insecure. Cameron was unable to answer Corbyn’s highlighting of a council tenant wanting to downsize to avoid the bedroom tax but facing the loss of a secure tenancy as a result.

‘Spiteful’ attacks

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner told UNITElive, “The Tories have no answer to the housing crisis engulfing this country – just measures that will make it even worse.

“We are building too few homes to buy or rent. There has been a total collapse in the number of council homes for social rent being built and neither the private sector nor housing associations have been able to fill the gap.

“Public, large scale investment to build council homes is urgently needed and would bring a halt to growing numbers of people chasing fewer and fewer available homes.

At the moment all we see are rents going up and houses to buy being priced out of reach simply because there is not enough housing. Building council homes for social rent is a win-win, giving a huge boost to the economy, decent  work and providing much needed homes. This is an easy problem to solve – it just needs the political will.

Turner believes, “Just leaving ‘the market’ to provide housing has led us to this crisis – there is plenty of evidence showing this. The Tories know it and are making no attempt to address the fundamental cause of the housing crisis – just because it does not fit in with their world view. Now we additionally have the absurdity of punishing those living in poorer areas by removing the roof over their heads.

“The focus needs to be a right to a home and not just a right to buy. Councils must get building again to ensure another one million homes are available to rent.”