by Keith Richmond
THE Labour Government’s new-found determination to help local councils build more homes has been warmly welcomed by campaigners for council housing in Britain.
They see it as an important and long overdue sea-change in the way government regards social housing in this country, which has been under attack ever since the Conservative Government of Margaret Thatcher brought in its “right to buy” scheme in the 1980s which decimated council housing stock in Britain; a policy never reversed in 10 years under Tony Blair.
Alan Walter, chair of Defend Council Housing, said: “Supporters of first class council housing will welcome Gordon Brown’s commitment to council housing.
“As the Prime Minister recognises, local authorities are ideally placed to provide first class council homes with secure tenancies and low rents, managed by an accountable landlord, using the best building methods, designed to the highest environmental standards and with good community and transport infrastructure. And that’s what Britain needs for the 21st century.”
He added: “It is clear that the private housing market has failed people miserably. Government and policy-makers need to learn the lesson. Public money should be invested in public housing and any help to bankers and builders should be conditional on them supporting a massive programme to build a third generation of first-class council homes.”
As Tribune reported last week, Housing Minister Margaret Beckett plans to let councils keep all their rental income from newly-built council houses and the Prime Minister wants to help home-buyers get a mortgage from their local authority.
The Government has reduced the rate at which councils can lend money from 5.07 per cent to 3.93 per cent to help those buyers shut out of the market after banks and building societies stopped offering loans above 90 per cent of the value of the property.
The Prime Minister promised not to let “old arguments and ideologies stop us getting on with the job when there are families who need homes, when there are bricklayers, carpenters and electricians ready and willing to work, and when there are construction companies ready to build houses”.
Mr Brown added: “If local authorities can convince us that they can deliver quickly – and cost-effectively – more of the housing that Britain needs, and if local authorities can build social housing in sustainable communities that meets the aspirations of the British people in the 21st century, then we will be prepared to give them our full backing.”
