‘We’ll resist social cleansing’ – Threat of Council rents to increase

Published: 29 October, 2010
by TERRY MESSENGER

A FOUR-FOLD increase in council rents, threatened by the government, is part of a policy to drive poorer people out of the borough, it was claimed this week.

New tenants will be charged £360 per week for a typical council flat compared with a current rent of £92, under a plan flagged up by Chancellor George Osborne. People going into housing association properties would face similar rent hikes.

The “shocking” policy was condemned by both Labour and the Liberal Democrats in Islington.

It comes on top of a measure forcing private tenants on housing benefit to find £100 plus per week out of their own pockets for a family home.

People on low and modest incomes, dependent on housing benefit and social homes, would not be able to afford the new charges, said Islington’s Labour housing chief James Murray.

He said: “They are basically saying that people on low and modest incomes can’t live in Islington.”

The borough’s Lib Dem opposition leader Terry Stacy also criticised coalition housing policy, arguing: “It’s not good for social cohesion, it’s not good for families and it’s not good for Islington.”

Mr Osborne announced that tenants going into social housing “will be offered rents at around 80 per cent of the market rent” as part of a new government housing strategy.

Islington currently charges £92 per week for a three-bedroom flat with private landlords in the borough typically charging £450.

Under the 80 per cent plan, the rent would rise to £360.

The formula would also result in similar increases in housing association rents.

Previously the government announced a plan to limit housing benefit for private tenants, with payments for a three-bedroom property capped at £340 per week. That would leave tenants with a shortfall of £110 per week to find for a typical family home.

The measures would hit Islington particularly hard as private rents are so steep in areas close to the City and West End where high earners want to live. They have been likened by national commentators to “social cleansing.”

David Cameron has also floated the idea of ending lifetime security of tenure for new social tenancies, suggesting leases lasting five years only.

Cllr Murray said: “It’s deeply shocking and I don’t know whether the government understands the situation in Islington. If they are talking about scrapping security of tenure and having rents at 80 per cent of market rents, then what does social housing mean any more?

“It’s really showing the government’s true agenda which is to end social housing as a tenure. I hope they will look at the situation and realise how destructive these proposals would be.

“There are a lot of low-paid jobs in Islington in which people work very hard.

“For all these families the private rented sector is too expensive and insecure and ownership is going to be permanently out of reach. The only way for them to live in Islington, work here and send their kids to the local school is to live in social housing and that is under serious threat.” 

Cllr Stacy added: “We are totally opposed to the idea of any ‘social cleansing’. The proposed changes to housing benefit will drive poor people out of the borough. Islington’s strength is its community cohesion.” 

The borough’s Lib Dems would oppose the caps on housing benefit, changes in security of tenure and raising social rents to 80 per cent of market rents.

“I’m not in coalition with the Conservatives. The parliamentary party is in coalition with the Conservatives. I am an Islington councillor and our role is to stand up for Islington and Islington residents.”

Despite the announcement, it is possible the government might give councils and housing associations freedom to choose whether or not they raise rents. When asked if the 80 per cent policy was compulsory, a spokeswoman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: “We can’t give firm answers on this. It will all be set out in the coming weeks and a firm policy will be formulated.”

But Islington’s council fears the government will instead slash cash for new housing – by up to 50 per cent – and tell councils that, if they want to build more homes, they will have to find the money through increased rents.

The threatened higher rents and changes in security of tenure apply to new tenancies only and not to existing tenants and tenancies.