I had just sat down comfortably on the sofa, after getting the TV and my evening tipple ready, when the doorbell rang. Who could be troubling me unannounced at 8pm in the evening?

I opened the door and saw not one but three people standing there, like genies out of a bottle.

‘We are your ward councillors,’ they said. ‘We have come to find out if there is anything we can do for the residents. Any broken pavements, any holes on the road?’ they inquired.

It’s a sure sign that elections are coming when politicians begin to call on you. I told them that it was an inconvenient time and that if they came back in a few days, I would have my wish list ready. They didn’t much like the sound of that and hurried away.

Ask now

The pre-election lead-in period is the best time to get the attention of our political masters. They think every vote counts - which is why I am getting my wish list together for social housing.

In the years leading to the New Labour triumph in 1997, I organised meetings every six months between black and minority ethnic associations and the Labour opposition housing spokesperson, Nick Raynsford. We agreed a Labour BME housing strategy that would have seen BME associations flourish and develop.

After the election, Mr Raynsford did not get his expected post as housing minister and was shunted elsewhere as minister for London.

The BME housing strategy was quietly shelved and forgotten. BME associations went into terminal decline, with key staff taking their associations into mergers and group structures to save their own positions, more often than not jumping before they were pushed.

We lost the BME housing movement as a powerful, vibrant and respected independent sector.

I no longer have the BME sector on my wish list but I still long for community-based associations, which, though imperfect, were democratic and accountable and really cared for local communities.

Three wishes

So, back to my wish list. I know I am going to fall out with most of my friends in the sector with my very first item.

I would like to see the right to buy extended to all housing association tenants. There is no reason why council tenants should have the right to buy, while most housing association assured tenants do not.

It is not that I am a great fan of owner-occupation, but I do believe that people should stand on their own two feet as soon as they can. Having a financial stake in the property they live in means tenants will not only look after it better but will also care about the area they live in.

They will be able to invest in their property, extend it if necessary and do their own repairs, rather than wait for a call centre to send an expensive operative when one is available - sometimes just to replace a light bulb.

Social landlords’ income streams can be protected if they are required to use all the money they get from a sale to buy or build a replacement property within six months.

People should not be able to live in social (which means publicly subsidised) housing when they are well able to buy or rent in the private market. Social housing should be in sufficient supply for those that need it most, when they need it and not be silted up with people who could easily afford to move to the private rented sector or owner occupation. If that requires removing security of tenure for life, so be it.

The second item on my shopping list is for housing to be allocated on the basis of need, and to those who are most in need,not to people who are best able to bid (as is the case in choice-based lettings).

For the past few months, I have been working with Somali community associations. Somalis represent the most disadvantaged, the most overcrowded and most in need community in London and in many other inner-city areas. These are not people who can get a mortgage, rent privately or go on a 10-year waiting list.

My third item is for a simplification of landlord/tenant law and the removal of social housing from the legal loop. By this I mean swift, informal housing tribunals, similar to employment tribunals, where legal costs cannot be claimed by either party.

I was recently involved in a simple court case where an assured shorthold tenancy was terminated for a short life property that had to be handed to the owners for refurbishment. The legal costs for the short life group came to a staggering £18,000.

In another case, the tenant who was found to be subletting counter-claimed for disrepair. The costs of a two-day hearing would have reached an astronomical £80,000 if it was not settled in favour of the subletting tenant, who was compensated.

In both cases tenants received legal aid. I know these are extremes but the taxpayer and the not-for-profit sector would benefit if we removed legal costs and delays that simply prolong the inevitable.

I doubt if my ward councillors will return to my door or, if they do come back, that they will take any notice of my wishes.

Even if they say ‘yes’ to everything I ask, I fear these wishes would end up in spin and fail to deliver to the people who need it most, like those in the Somali and other disadvantaged communities.

Tony Soares is a housing consultant

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