Housing Action Teeside put the case for building Council Housing to Stockton Council.
A committee heard how tenants felt let down, lied to, ignored and trapped for years in dilapidated homes sometimes ‘unfit for human habitation’
Tenants who have spent years waiting for housing or to solve damp and mould issues took up placards to make their voices heard by councillors.
They made their way to Municipal Buildings in Stockton with signs saying “we can’t wait, we need homes”, “build council housing now”, “people before profit” and “housing is a human right”. They attended a Stockton Council meeting where tenants’ union Housing Action Teesside made its case to bring back “good old-fashioned council housing” for tenants who felt let down, lied to and ignored, trapped on waiting lists and in dilapidated homes.
Mum-of-four Alwiya Abukar, 54, said she was living in a four-bedroom house in Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, which was no longer suitable for her or her 29-year-old daughter as they both had disabilities and health difficulties and her other children had left home. They cannot use its upper floor and have to sleep downstairs, and the mum had to consult a solicitor to deal with issues of damp, while struggling to pay expensive utility bills.
The housing association tenant told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I’m living in the dining room, my daughter in the living room. We live downstairs. The house is four bedrooms and wasted, the heating is wasted.
“We can’t climb the stairs at all. I told them, this is waste, people need it, please give it to someone with a big family and give us something suitable for us.
“I’ve been waiting for five years to get a suitable house for me and my daughter. Sleeping in a bed in the dining room and living room, we’re not having a life as a family. My daughter needs to have a life.
“She needs to be in a house suitable for her. She needs surgery, an operation. The way they’re dealing with it is making me feel low. I feel like I’m not human.”
Anne Purchase-Walker, 70, a housing association tenant in Stockton, said it took more than eight years for work to start on damp and mould issues which she believes have caused her health problems. She said: “For the first time in my life I’m using an inhaler because, I suspect, of damp and mould-related asthma.”
The retired trainer and cognitive behaviour therapist said she used to run a rescue facility for wild hedgehogs: “I was forced to give it up to get the house sorted. To take almost a decade of my life to do that is appalling.”
Inside the place select committee meeting, Housing Action Teesside chair Tom Zagoria said: “The current system is in crisis and our tenants feel totally let down. There’s an average of 113 bids on each property in Stockton and there’s been a 19% increase in applications on the housing register in the last year alone.
“We’ve got almost 2,000 people on the housing waiting list in Stockton and that is growing every year. It’s been a trend across the country and local councils are needing to step up to close that gap.
‘Trapped for years’
“The current system, in which social housing is outsourced to several private organisations, is not working for our tenants. The current structure doesn’t give either councillors or tenants enough say in what social housing is built and how social housing is maintained.”
He said people with complex needs were trapped in overcrowded temporary accommodation, in shoddy damp homes or in a cycle of homelessness. He said some tenants were afraid to raise concerns about repairs and unreasonable rent increases, sometimes with “slum landlords”, and had no viable social housing as an alternative.
He said tenants had shared their stories: “They feel lied to in lots of cases, they feel ignored, they feel blamed for damp and mould issues. They’ve been trapped for years in homes which are unsuitable for them due to a disability and they’ve been unable to be rehoused because of this housing waiting list.
“They’re faced with ridiculously long-term schemes for basic repairs which need to be done. They sometimes live in homes which are unfit for human habitation. They’re living in homes that are gradually becoming more dilapidated.
“We’ve been representing hundreds of tenants who are in those situations, and the situation is frankly only going to get worse because every year there’s fewer homes listed as available. Those waiting lists are only going to get longer.
“We are asking the council to consider a model of actual good old-fashioned council housing under democratic control. We know that’s not something that can happen overnight.”
He suggested they start to build, gain expertise and work with other councils to return to council-controlled social housing: “That is what believe is going to be in the long-term interests of the council, the community and the tenants. What we’re talking about is trying to relieve that pressure for all those families who are trapped on waiting lists by providing an alternative.
“At the minute, to be honest, some private landlords effectively have the council’s housing options team over a barrel. The council has very limited options because it does not have the social housing supply.
‘There is definitely an under-supply’
“The council should be the landlord, and not a private organisation. That’s what we believe. It is possible, and other councils are doing it, to resume building council housing from having nothing.”
In response, strategic housing team manager Alan Glew said they wanted to increase and accelerate supply of homes, but had “fairly limited” control over landlords and property owners in some cases. He said: “There definitely is an under-supply when you’re looking at the demand we’re seeing.”
He said they had to look at market forces and what they could influence for the better. He added: “Whilst I do share some of your concerns and we’re not ruling out anything at this stage, we’re looking at a whole of potential options to address this.
“Council house-building or ownership of property might be one of those options… We can’t change everything and it isn’t going to happen quickly. We’ve got some significant challenges.”
Committee chair Councillor Richard Eglington said: “I don’t think it would cure all the issues but it’s definitely something we have to look at.” Cllr Jim Beall said: “I think there’s a lot of merit in what you’re saying. I think there’s a role for council housing. It’s not the total solution, I hope you would accept that.
“We’ve identified there is a crying need for more affordable housing. It’s not a singular approach. It needs to come with some resources that councils can contribute to meeting that need.”
Cllr Sylvia Walmsley said: “We all wish we had a magic wand. I’ve been a councillor for over 20 years and I’ve seen a massive increase in the waiting lists. My own personal opinion is that right to buy has a lot to answer for. I think it’s the worst thing that ever happened to council housing.”
Cllr Sufi Mubeen added: “People are waiting for a very long time for a house. It’s time for us to do something and make an alternative way.”
Councillors also raised issues with houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), anti-social behaviour, addiction and recovery, and Mr Glew spoke of potential government reforms on right to buy and tackling the imbalance between tenants and landlords including no-fault evictions, rents and protection: “I think there are lots of things coming forward in legislation. Hopefully that should comfort to people in the private rented sector.”
Mr Zagoria said after the meeting: “There was definitely a mixed reaction. We’ll have to see because we need action, not words. We’re not asking for the world. We’re just asking for council housing to be part of the solution, which we think is doable.”
Reproduced from Teeside Live
Labour Campaign for Council Housing 