London Labour Party

Labour's Andy Slaughter said that if Tory leader David Cameron fails to disassociate himself from “punitive” and “extreme” housing policies in Conservative Hammersmith and Fulham he will “send a chill though every council and housing association household in Britain.”

He outlines plans to demolish eight housing estates that could see the
council's stock reduced by a third – or 5,000 properties – over the next
few years. “It is far from clear what would happen to the existing tenants,
but loss of even a fraction of these homes would effectively stall the
social housing market for a generation.”

He says that Hammersmith has undermined efforts for new affordable homes:

“When each new development is put forward for planning consent, lip service is paid to the need for affordable homes but none is included in the
instant scheme. In some cases developers have come back to committee
pleading poverty and asking for a reduction in previously agreed
percentages of low-cost accommodation. Their request is granted by the Tory majority on the committee. No bids are put in for government schemes for new council properties, nor for HCA funding for housing association developments. Indeed where this was previously granted, it has been returned unspent.

He concludes: “Three times housing minister John Healey has written to
David Cameron to ask him to disassociate himself and his party from the
activities in west London. Cameron's failure to reply will send a chill
though every council and housing association household in Britain.”

Read the full article and debate on the Guardian’s Comment is Free here.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/30/social-housing-policy-tories