Kevin Neil
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Comment on: Landlords to float on stock exchange
I could tear this idea apart from many directions, but for the moment let's focus on just one of the glaring falsehoods in this article.
"He also argued introducing shareholders would make landlords more accountable".
Oh really? Presumably that's why shareholders in many corporations are frustrated by their inability to constrain top executives’ pay? Any accountability that might exist may not be what the tenants are looking for anyway. "Accountable" to whom? To the shareholders of course! So if there is a conflict of interest between tenants (who will benefit most from (genuinely) affordable rents and security of tenure; and the interests of shareholders (who will benefit from maximising income from properties and having less security, then which side will that "accountability" favour?
Council housing, rent and tenure reforms and homelessness duties exist for one reason and one reason only. That is the historic failure of an unregulated market to meet the housing needs of people and communities. This left substantial numbers of people living in squalid and overcrowded conditions, whilst slum landlords prospered.
I fear that if current government policies cannot be thrown fully into reverse within the next five to ten years, then all the advances achieved by both liberals and socialists over the past 100 years will be lost. This may benefit the greedy of today, leaving the needy of future generations to pay the bill. -
Comment on: Poll finds support for Livingstone's housing plans
Bit puzzled how people claiming to be 'reasonable' can jump on an anti Ken Livingstone bandwagon without having an evidence base to support them. Most people working in the social housing sector recognise that ken has put forward the most coherent plan in this respect. Why - because we care about the sector not because of any party political dogma.
Ken Livingstone has been demonised by the press and the right wing for many years, so I'm sure won't be put off. He is right about the need to sort out housing problems just like he was right to talk to Irish Nationalists twenty years ago. For those who don't remember that one he talked to Irish nationalist politicians, primarily to let them know he didn't much care for Londoners being blown up! This caused a huge furore despite the fact that we later discovered that he was only doing the same thing as the Tory government, but doing it openly and honestly. Ken has also done much over the years to improve transport in London, reduce congestion, and was of course the mayor involved in the successful Olympic bid.
I say all this not out of party political leanings, but because I think that people should be considering the facts and the issues, not political soundbites. Anyway Ken has not always been popular with the Labour leadership and was elected mayor as an independent at one stage. You may recall him being at loggerheads with both the major parties over the Iraq war. Does anyone want to argue he was wrong about that one? -
Comment on: Shapps hits out at BBC over Newham coverage
Michael Dixon is right to point out that the previous government could have done more to support the social housing sector, although I doubt there is much else I will agree with him on.
Labour could for example have secured the building of more homes, could have started enabling council's to start building again much sooner, and could have done much more to regulate the private sector. However the "stories" about people getting massive subsidy to live in expensive areas that he refers to are mainly tabloid sensationalism, focussing on exceptional cases. They also ignore the reality that an unregulated private sector is what has produced those soaring rents in the first place.
What we now have is however something very different indeed and the direction of travel of the sector is at best alarming. Rather than address the issue of excessive rental costs (particularly in London), the current minister has chosen to penalise tenants and the homeless in the hope that some landlords will respond by dropping rents. This will lead to massive pockets of deprivation, and potentially lead to rising crime and social unrest. Thus whilst the record of the last government in terms of housing was disappointing, I have a real fear that in time this will be looked back on as a 'golden age'. -
Comment on: Housing central to new political party
Good point F451 but as he is over 35 years old that need not apply. Could make it harder for him to attract younger candidates to his cause though.
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Comment on: Inside Housing proves Cameron rent claim wrong
If anyone is in any doubt then look no further than the BBC news website where I saw this today.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17072921
This shows a year on year increase in every area apart from the North East of England. It is also ominous to note that this organisation have not seen rent rise in January in the past, which implies that if anything rent rises are gaining pace. Should this be the case then combined with the welfare reform (i.e. benefit cuts) agenda, the housing options of the most vulnerable are being further eroded.
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