A Labour Party member in Wiltshire is supporting our campaign to end RTB and will be submitting our model motion to her CLP for the Labour Conference in October. She tells us about the experience of homelessness which results from the shortage of council housing. “I've experienced homelessness with my two children and the grim … Continue reading “The grim wait for vacant social housing”
Category: Right to Buy
Right to Buy as a housing policy has been a disaster
Lorna Fielker, Cabinet Member for Adults, Health & Housing and Depouty Leader of Southampton Council has supported our campaign for Labour to commit to ending Right to Buy. This is a letter to Lisa Nandy. Dear Lisa, It was lovely to meet you at the Next Generation session in Manchester earlier this year. Thank you … Continue reading Right to Buy as a housing policy has been a disaster
Questions on Labour’s housing policy
The housing content of the National Policy Forum document is supposed to “shape the Labour Party's policy agenda”. The draft document it has produced, will be discussed by NPF members and, amended by them, will go to a “Clause 5” meeting on which the NEC, CLPs and affiliates sit, together with the Shadow Cabinet. That … Continue reading Questions on Labour’s housing policy
Thatcher – the Right to Buy
Richard Harries was working at an advice point when he came across this story which he recounts in his poem below. Two brothers living together in council housing, next door to each other have different fates as a result of the one deciding to buy and the other not. Richard had been to University in … Continue reading Thatcher – the Right to Buy
Keeping 100% Right to Buy receipts is no substitute for abolishing it
The government has announced that councils can keep Right to Buy receipts from 2022/3 and 2023/4 and have five years to use them. They have also announced that the restrictions on acquisitions (buying homes on the market to add to the council housing stock) will be frozen at 50%. In other words councils can make … Continue reading Keeping 100% Right to Buy receipts is no substitute for abolishing it
Right to Buy divides people
Hackney councillor Clare Joseph writes on the practical consequences of Right to Buy and why the policy should be ended. When the LCCH asked me to write something on the Right to Buy, I wondered what I could say that hadn’t already been said. Right to Buy means we lose irreplaceable Council stock, an average … Continue reading Right to Buy divides people
Labour Housing Group opposes campaign to end Right to Buy
At its AGM recently the Labour Housing Group voted to oppose campaigning to commit Labour to end Right to Buy when in government. Myself and Ben Clay moved a motion which would have committed the LHG to sign our statement calling on Labour to commit to ending it and to encourage LHG members to support … Continue reading Labour Housing Group opposes campaign to end Right to Buy
Islington Council Labour Group supports campaign to end Right to Buy
Islington Council Labour Group has agreed to support our statement calling on Labour to commit to ending Right to Buy. “Providing more genuinely affordable and social homes has always been our priority for our Labour-run Council. As we have 14,000 people on our housing waiting list, local people need us to provide as many council … Continue reading Islington Council Labour Group supports campaign to end Right to Buy
South Swindon CLP supports call for Labour to commit to ending Right to Buy
The model resolution of the Labour Campaign for Council Housing on ending Right to Buy was passed by South Swindon CLP by 26 votes to nil, with five abstentions. The resolution calls on CLPs to add their name to the statement and write to the Leadership calling on it to commit to ending RTB. The … Continue reading South Swindon CLP supports call for Labour to commit to ending Right to Buy
“Council housing rescued us when we were homeless”
Tom Murtha, now retired, was very prominent in the housing association sector. We interview him about his experience and the current situation, with an increasing trend towards commercialisation. You spent many years working for housing associations. Could you tell us what you did and why you decided to work in that field? I was born … Continue reading “Council housing rescued us when we were homeless”
Labour Campaign for Council Housing 