A guide to ghettoisation in modern Britain?

Published: 4th November, 2010

• OVER the last few weeks I have watched the new social housing policies develop with a great deal of interest and more than a small amount of trepidation.

And, like most, I have pondered the curious dichotomy; on the one hand capping housing benefit seems eminently sensible but, when taken in tandem with rent rises to 80 per cent of the private sector, then financially it makes no sense at all.

Far more people will be claiming the top rate of benefit, negating any savings.

These policies are nothing to do with cost savings or a genuine effort to aid the poor, homeless, or others most in need of cheap social housing.

These changes are driven by nothing more than a blind adherence to Conservative ideology and the mantra of “private good, public bad” which has done so much to undermine our society in the last 60 years. 

From nationalised industries through the NHS to social housing all are anathema and therefore must go, right- wing dogma decrees this no matter what the future cost or consequence.

For the last 30 years we have had no new building in the public sector apart from the meagre efforts of some housing associations.

In the same time the private sector has built only enough homes to fill the gap at maximised revenues despite obvious demand for far more. 

Because of this, both house prices and rents have spiralled to ever higher levels and yet the social housing sector, rather than being protected from this, is being pulled firmly into the morass. 

Why? What possible reason could there be for these actions? It isn’t as if public housing operates at a loss. 

If central government didn’t take so much out of the communal pot it would do very nicely with balanced books and rolling repair programmes affordable even with rents at half the current private rates. 

Give councils full control and they could easily afford to build more homes and ease the current load on the private sector.

So why not introduce a means test that automatically disqual­ifies anyone under a certain income from receiving a council flat in a given area and yes, that is correct, you did read “under” rather than “over”. Now add in a valuation lower than comparable private sector dwellings and chuck in a hefty right-to-buy discount. 

Anyone care to suggest where this might be going? 

Camden currently has around 28,000 properties on its books; if this blatant attempt at economic ghettoisation is allowed to happen just how many do you think it will still have in 10 years’ time? And for London as a whole…

Add in wealthy and reasonably wealthy areas in other large cities, it isn’t hard to see who will end up with the short end of the stick.

We’ll have a million cheap homes available to the private housing sector thus alleviating the shortages they did so much to contribute to and, in turn, this will get the banks back on their feet thus contributing to the economy. 

Large swathes of urban Britain will be gentrified. No more charity shops, no more 99p shops! Even better, no more poor or destitute on the streets!
D Hodgkinson
Bayham Place, NW1