Petition in call for Homes for Islington axe

Published: 1st July, 2011
by PETER GRUNER

A PETITION is being launched calling for Homes for Islington to be scrapped and its services returned to council control.

The housing agency has come under fire for large refurbishment bills and “poor quality work”.

Activist Thomas Cooper has been granted  permission to place the petition on Islington Council’s own website.

He said: “HFI is over-staffed, inefficient and unaccountable. 

“Bring back directly managed housing ser­vices.”

Mr Cooper argues that HFI was created to access government funding and deliver Islington’s Decent Homes work, and that this has now been completed.

And he insists that local authorities across the country are in the process of winding up housing agencies like HFI.

Council leader Councillor Catherine West welcomed Mr Cooper’s views. 

She said: “We are currently reviewing the housing situation. That includes looking at the possibility of disbanding HFI and bringing housing in-house.

“There are arguments for and against HFI.”