Forum Topic

labour councillors are about to lose the initiative in the May elections

The Conservative candidates have hit the right spot to gain my attention by highlighting the (1) Filthy Roads that are so obviously  in need of better cleaning . (2) Congestion of road needing better signs.  (3) The disgracefully maintained, even the narrowest of road pavements. (4) Uneven and Unlevelled pot hole repairs. (5) Road markings into Cul de sacs not replaced thus hampering exit and incoming car traffic into the road.Elderly people like myself find this sort of neglect unforgivable. Meetings late in the evening are difficult and do not come to any notice of the officials who are supposed to care. All i can hope for is someone to come along and see for themselves the places i have been writing about.Did you ever Take a walk through Pisssss alley?

Os a whittle ● 2954d53 Comments

I wasn't displaying a bias but commenting on Andy jones observation that Rupa Huq has alienated the Polish community because she stopped a right wing speaker with possibly inflammatory and divisive views from speaking.I was surprised that the Polish community as a whole are being represented as alienated as a result of this.I think Ms Huq did the right thing in stopping the speaker.

M Powes ● 2911d

I don't know of any reason that could make your observation true about Polish People in general.There are people who behave with A bias as do many from the other diverse groups, who display these tendencies . I can recall feeling biased myself on several occasions.

Os a whittle ● 2911d

So is Andy Jones earlier suggesting that Most Polish nationals are right wing and probable racistsRupa Huq should not alienate these people?Or have I misunderstood?

M Powes ● 2911d

It wouldn't lower prices except in the short term if you forced sales (which would probably breach a wide range of treaty obligation). As said previously, a substantial amount of new residential property is being built in this country due to foreign investment and this helps to keep prices down. Look at the Indian property market if you want to see how restricted foreign investment impacts prices. To present this foreign investment as a bad thing represents a fundamental misunderstanding of what is happening.

Andy Jones ● 2921d

My suggestion is made because it would lower prices. You did not voice the big objection to that, negative equity. I blame no foreigners for shortage but two other factors one of which no-one ever mention, the inability of people to live together as families - well the indigenous that is.

Graham Weeks ● 2921d

There may be some other nations that restrict property ownership to citizens but not economically successful ones. It is a fallacy to think that foreign ownership is a significant cause of the housing shortage in fact the opposite is probably true. Ultimately foreigners buying property here is a capital investment and our balance of payments is very dependent on this inflow. All the complaints about Hong Kong and Singaporean individuals buying flats as investment ignore the fact that without such investment the flats may not have been built. Because of the restrictions on mortgages and the reduced incentives domestic buying interest is much reduced. If you took away foreign buying there would be fewer flats built and an even more acute housing shortage.It also needs to be reiterated that there is no evidence that foreign buyers are more likely to leave a property empty than domestic ones. A Commons Select Committee published a report on this matter and it showed that the 'void' rates for flats were much the same regardless of ownership. This confirms what common sense would have told us anyway - why on earth would an investor buy a flat and not put a tenant in it as getting a yield on their investment is the whole point?Blaming foreigners for our housing problems is hitting the wrong target. Restrictions on foreign inward investment would also have a significantly negative impact on trade negotiations with all these countries we expect to be doing lots of business with after Brexit.

Andy Jones ● 2921d

The green and pleasant land went out with the dark satanic mills. But for a radical start on the problem of the cost of housing how about doing what plenty of other nations do? Property ownership for citizens only? Immediate fall in property prices and a market full of cheaper property. The present foreign owners to get what the market gives them. Simple. Apply it to foreign registered companies too.

Graham Weeks ● 2924d

Does make me smileThe answer is just to build more and more and more and more property then; and most these dense little boxes packing as many in as possible?Laughable This once green and pleasant land....

Colin Goodman ● 2924d

Thank you for this.  I have posted a table on the Ealing Matters Facebook page showing permissions for major developments in the borough since November 2017, showing breakdowns by unit size and tenancy type.  I do think these developments are a good thing, but other boroughs such as Brent have managed to do similar developments and rehouse all their social tenants on the original estates.  And Enfield are currently building fifty new Council Houses! I am not sure Ealing has  negotiated particularly well with developers. Land is finite remember and developers need to develop otherwise they would be out of business.

Libby Kemp ● 2924d

Thanks for those links Libby. They increased my understanding of the issue.I would not dispute that residents should always be properly consulted. This shouldn't extend to giving them a veto on any plans but there should be a guarantee that all existing tenants are rehoused in accommodation which is as good as or better than their current home. For those with family houses, it may not be possible to do so in the local area as most of these developments increase density to maximise the number of units built. Many of my friends and neighbours have been forced to move out of the area as their family got larger due to cost and I don't think we can guarantee that social housing tenants be immune to the same pressures.I would agree that it is wrong if new developments are leading to an overall loss in social housing units but if it is just the case the proportion is falling then that would be fine. It is also true to say that 'affordable' housing, as currently defined is in no way a substitute for social housing. Personally I think we should scrap the concept altogether.Subject no social housing being lost, I don't see how you can argue that these developments are not a good thing. Thousands of new homes are being built reducing upward pressure on prices. The Council saves a huge amount of money on having to rebuild existing stock and ongoing maintenance and repair costs. The new units are cheaper to maintain, more environmentally friendly and safer. Tenants get improved accommodation. It seems to me these arrangements are attracting the level of criticism that they do for internal party political reasons rather than concern for social housing tenants who in my, admittedly limited, experience are generally delighted with their new homes.

Andy Jones ● 2924d

The fact is that party politics nationally largely determines the outcomes of local elections. But the last twice Conservatives took power in Ealing was on a local issue. The last one was Red Ken's folly, the tram along Uxbridge road. Previously back in 1990 it was three years of local Labour folly with huge rate rises etc. If you do not like it stand as or vote for an independent.

Graham Weeks ● 2925d

Arent we all just so tired of petty power arguments. Its right that those in power anywhere be answerable and kick outable but incessant critisism leads to continuous negativity. People of all political persuasions (did I say all???....most) will sometimes do good things. I am all for cooperative action where possible.

Marie McLernon ● 2925d

It would be better if it wasn't but unfortunately hanging onto power and political ping-pong makes it difficult to move forward on anything.  There is a 38 degrees campaign at the moment call on the political parties in parliament to work together to sort of the social care problem - a letter from Dr Sarah Wollaston MP has been sent to Theresa May signed by MPs from different parties.

Philippa Bond ● 2925d

Does anyone really think that party politics is really relevant in local council?  Getting roads/street lights fixed, streets  clean, rubbish collected, parks maintained etc is more about individual people working in the council doing their job properly.  Councillors may push for changes in their own ward but find they have little budget. Major financial decisions such as the ongoing cinema disaster, rebuilding of schools and roads would be little different if another political party were in charge. Just as your MP may not be from the political party of your choice, they should be judged on how well they look after their constituents and the area they represent.  We should be looking at our individual councillors work re ords rather than party allegiance before voting in or out. 

Marie McLernon ● 2925d

The right to buy numbers aren't that great on the large estates.  If you read the documents on planning applications, they are often, but not always stated.  There is a net loss, but it is difficult to get the exact figures. I know some of the families from South Acton who were moved to the Uxbridge area and are unable to move back as the amount of new houses built did not match the number of people moved out.  Also the amount of three bedroom plus houses has dropped significantly. The eleven developments mentioned are a mixture of Ealing owned and private and the nine in the Sian Berry piece are all Ealing owned.

Libby Kemp ● 2926d

95% of the flats in the estate may have been built as social housing but, by the time of the redevelopment, a significant proportion of those were in the hands of tenants acquired through right-to-buy. I remember raising the question at the time the redevelopment was proposed and was told that there was no net loss of social housing units and no social housing tenant would be required to move out of the area.Are all the developments you refer to in Ealing on Council land?

Andy Jones ● 2926d

For the estates see https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/khan-approved-funding-for-34-estates-since-guidance-consultation-55486and the article http://www.sianberry.london/news/2018_03_23_mayor-betrays-34-estates-over_ballot/When an estate is redeveloped only 30% of 50% of the build ( before redevelopment the estates are on average 95% social housing) have to be re-let as social housing.  This is to allow the developers to make immediate rather than long term profits.  There will be other units available at London Affordable, London Living, shared ownership and so called affordable rents which are anything up to 80% of market rents.Ealing Planning Committee since November 2017 has given permissions for 2673 housing units on 11 developments of which only 134 are for social housing and 438 affordable rents.Phase 9.1 the latest phase of the South Acton Estate development is for 68 homes of which only 7 are for social housing.  There is a document from 2010 GLA South Acton Estate Phase One (2.3) which states that the redevelopment of the SA estate will cut the number of social housing units but increase the so called “affordable” housing units.

Libby Kemp ● 2926d

Libby, can you give a bit more specifics about these estates you say are being given away? The only redevelopment I have any knowledge of is that in South Acton. As far as I am aware the number of social housing units was retained, tenants were generally happy with the new accommodation and a massive number of new homes continues to be built on the site with no cost to the taxpayer. Is there something I am missing?

Andy Jones ● 2926d

transparency is not part of ealings vocabulary. in many respects it is like an authoritarian regime. i hope any new councillors for labour are of the more radical nature and will push for change

Peter Chadburn ● 2926d

Ealing is currently "giving away" a huge landbank, nine estates in the last few weeks will be redeveloped, with only a small amount of social housing being replaced and most with little no real consultation with the current tenants.

Libby Kemp ● 2926d

Errrmmmmm.... because maybe they’re not British Citizens???Bring on the Brexit so we can get back to sorting ourselves out

Colin Goodman ● 2927d

I am interested but Googling didn't bring me to any direct links to the articles you cited. I did find one that said the Chartered Institute of Housing's consultancy business declared bankruptcy last year.I'd be prepared to accept that maybe building council houses would be cash flow positive and you had zero land cost or depreciation but there still would be an effective subsidy due to the opportunity cost of the money forgone by not selling the land. Does Ealing actually have a landbank of any significant size anyway?

Tricia Arbuthnot ● 2927d

Chartered Institute of Housing's UK Housing Review and an article in the Guardian by John Perry.  And if you are really interested an Abstract by John Hills on the LSE website.

Libby Kemp ● 2927d

The biggest cost of building housing is land purchase. So if a Council builds on land it already owns, it may well recover costs through rents as long as a notional land value is not included in the costs.

Vlod Barchuk ● 2927d

I'm still trying to get my head round how Libby Kemp gets to the conclusion that council housing is not subsidised. As far as I can see she has done so by assuming that taxes not levied on private sector housing such as CGT are effectively subsidies and the Government saves money by not having to 'pay' these subsidies if people are in Council housing.There isn't really getting round the fact that providing housing that is affordable for everyone will prove horrendously expensive and that expense can only be met by the tax payer. I'm not sure Ealing Council or any other local authority can actually do anything about it but we should stop pretending that building 'affordable units', which are beyond people on even above average income, is part of the solution.

Tricia Arbuthnot ● 2927d

Council Housing is subsidised. Only the capital outlay is recovered.Maintenance and upkeep and service costs have to be met and far exceed income from rents, many of which are also subsidised.  Maintenance costs as with many other public institutions, are very high and quality of work and materials all too often, rather poor.Home owners have to fund maintenance and upkeep themselves and pay tax on tax already paid. An ordinary 3 bed house in this part of London is likely to qualify for Inheritance tax whereas a 6 bed house with a huge garden in another part of the country will not reach the threshold. Yet is is likely that the occupants incomes will be smaller or similar.The right to buy has not generated enough to replace the sold property stock. and as is being discovered in dense urban areas, there is not the space to build adequate replacement homes of an acceptable standard.The whole issue from top to bottom is a complete mess with too many doing rather well out of it.

Mark Kehoe ● 2927d

When I resided overseas I lost my vote. I understand that is now not the case.

Graham Weeks ● 2927d

Does that include British citizens resident in the European Union?

Andy Jones ● 2928d

Aliens pay council tax too. IMO only British citizens should be on the electoral register.

Graham Weeks ● 2928d

We have a Minister of Health who appears to have just had an epiphany and realised that funding for the Health Service in the future needs to be planned for!!!Meanwhile the Tories continue to try to make it more unmanageable and unworkable so that they can dismantle it further, stretching and stretching the staff.  The repeated platitudes and pretended concern make you want to puke.

Philippa Bond ● 2928d

What is wrong with that? They pay council tax like you and me.The question should be that with them paying tax why can't they vote in general elections.

Paul James ● 2928d

From a post further up:-Remember EU nationals get to voteWhich is obviously perfectly fine and no issue at all.Indeed

Colin Goodman ● 2928d

Council housing is not subsidised, it pays for itself over 25 to 30 years, and thereafter makes a profit for the council. House owners still enjoy capital gains tax relief, currently worth almost £6bn. Those with no or only small mortgages also benefit from not being taxed on the value of their home. This tax relief is now valued at over £11bn. Pooling these benefits and adding back in the stamp duty and inheritance tax of approximately £5bn that owners do pay, the net subsidy received is still a surprising £12bn per year.Owners in difficulty also receive support with mortgage payments. All governments have provided subsidy to shared ownership, as a first step on the ladder, and about 170,000 homes have been built on this basis alone. The biggest subsidy of all (for the individual households who have benefitted) has been the right-to-buy, offering 2m buyers a typical discount of £26,000. The UK Housing Review gives the total value of these subsidies as £1.6bn for the year 2009/10 – and in the recent past they have been even higher.Owners in difficulty also receive support with mortgage payments. All governments have provided subsidy to shared ownership, as a first step on the ladder, and about 170,000 homes have been built on this basis alone. The biggest subsidy of all (for the individual households who have benefitted) has been the right-to-buy, offering 2m buyers a typical discount of £26,000. The UK Housing Review gives the total value of these subsidies as £1.6bn for the year 2009/10 – and in the recent past they have been even higher.

Libby Kemp ● 2928d

As we are struggling to fund our health service and having to make painful cuts to other services is it really likely that funds will be made available for a huge programme of building subsidised housing?

Tricia Arbuthnot ● 2928d

You DO need to look further than the local administration.  You need to look at what other boroughs are managing to do with the slashing of budgets.  That does not mean that this administration is anything like good let alone perfect.Gordon Brown was NOT responsible for the world recession in fact he has been credited with helping to ameliorate the effect of it!  There is also an increasing older population - pensions and care were not designed for people living so long.  There was a 105 year old woman on the radio the other day who is still driving and certainly does not sound older than an 80 year old (whatever that sounds like) so say she retired at 60 that is 45+ years of pension!  Unfortunately our political parties pussyfoot around and pander to their electorate not wanting to lose voters.  Years and years ago they ALL should have seen what was happening and reorganised tax and NI to ameliorate any shortfall.  The relationship of Councils with the big developers is worrying and legislation too vague and unworkable.  Councils too easily even when "affordable" housing was included in planning permission later give way to developer claims that they won't make enough money if they include it and so manage to wriggle out of the provision. New developments have in some cases been only advertised for sale abroad and it is only recently that the mayors of London and Manchester have managed to get some promises that some developments will be advertised here and available for UK first time buyers first for a short amount of time.  There are many empty units.http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-5353137/UK-buyers-dibs-London-new-builds-350k.htmlThere has been a lot of discussion of the meaning of "affordable" and who CAN actually afford this.  It most definitely is NOT the same as social housing.  Social housing is not being built or replaced at the rate that it needs to be and that is a big reason why we have a housing problem.  Working people cannot afford the rents being asked.The Right to Buy social housing unfortunately did not give the Councils the Right to Build replacement social housing or all the proceeds of the sale - which is why we can have the too close relationships with developers.  As Libby pointed out there are a lot of smaller flats but not a lot of family houses being built.

Philippa Bond ● 2928d

Is there any social housing in the Homebase development? I thought there was about a third 'affordable' but no actual social housing.

Andy Jones ● 2929d

That is not quite true, especially where the new build is redevelopment of what were previously council estates.  Unlike other boroughs such as Brent and Enfield, Ealing appears incapable of standing up to the developers.  There are 11,498 singles, couples and families on the council housing waiting list (FOI response 090318). The Homebase, Acton development which is before the Planning Committee this evening will have 333 units, only 28 of which will be social housing units.  This will house 0.24% of those on the waiting list.  There is a council document from 2010 (planning report PDU/2642a/01 30 November 2010) “The principle of the redevelopment of the estate is supported, and the reduction in the number of affordable units …….is acceptable”

Libby Kemp ● 2934d

The lack of social housing being built is a national problem and the planning committee doesn't get to choose what applications are being put before it. Thousands of new homes are part of the solution as they well help stop prices rising further.

Tricia Arbuthnot ● 2934d

Their incompetence can't be leived at someone else. They are responsible for the decision making in the borough. Whilst I appreciate that support from central government has been cut/slashed, but that can be leived at Gordon Brown and his Labour administration!!!But I can't see how my local streets are not repaired or cleaned, bins not regularily emptied, planning incompetence on a grand scale. Very few genuine new social housing been built across the borough. When the Planning Committee is overseening 1000's of new homes!!!Why should residents of Ealing put up with it, we pay for the services out of our Council Tax and they should be held responsible.

Nicolas Ozegovic ● 2936d

You need to look at the bigger picture before just blaming the local administration.

Philippa Bond ● 2936d

For months I have been writing about this Labour adminsration regarding Council failures on the Acton Forum. Whether it be rubbish collection, poor state of the roads in Ealing, the lack of genuine affordable housing even though this adminstration has granted planning permission on 1000's of new homes...One of my local Acton Labour Ward Councillor verbal attacked me and the wife just before Xmas about what I wrote. They tend to take a dim view about critisim. However the opposition in Ealing is not getting the word out about the failures and mal practise in the borough. I just hope that the gritters are out this weekend as the MET Office is forecast Snow again!!!

Nicolas Ozegovic ● 2939d

I recall the late Bob Hetherington relating a conversation with people from Southall who said you have to look at the levels of corruption in England 200 years ago to understand Indian subcontinent politics.

Graham Weeks ● 2940d

What I fail to understand is why Labour selected such poor candidates to represent Southall, and why these people are allowed to stand as councillors. The selection process would appear to be riddled with corruption...

Mehar Singh ● 2940d

Apart from a few Councillors who deserve mention there are many who occupy their positions behind an image of diversity.Their background thus supports the belief that they  Know the needs of the Town better than others. POPPYCOCK. The Fact is that these people live by a timid belief to do as little as possible and avoid being challenged and Nothing gets done that might have been done.

Os a whittle ● 2940d

Can one find out which Labour candidates are Momentum backed?

Graham Weeks ● 2940d

I think you are right that carnage may loom for the Tories which will be a shame in some cases as some of their councillors seem to be quite diligent.Their only hope is that Rupa Huq continues to do all she can to alienate the Polish community and in wards like Ealing Common the split of the Remain vote between Labour and the Lib Dems helps them out.The intriguing thing is how many of the new councillors will be affiliated with Momentum and if there are enough to challenge Julian Bell's leadership.

Andy Jones ● 2941d

Unfortunately for Southall, the sheep seem to only vote for Labour. I wish Labour would deselect most of the current trash and field some capable candidates for a change. Dream on, I hear you say...

Mehar Singh ● 2941d

I've had a very quick scan of the numbers and if I were the Conservatives I'd be very worried.Nationally the polls suggest Labour continues to perform strongly and that trend is even more pronounced in London. Ealing has a very high proportion of EU nationals and this seems to be particularly pronounced in the wards where the Conservative hold seats. Remember EU nationals get to vote.The wards with higher leave votes tend to be solid Labour because they have greater proportion of Asian voters who seem to have voted by a bigger majority than nationally to quit the EU.The Liberal Democrats should hold onto their existing seats and might look to win more at Ealing Common.Therefore the Conservatives will be hit by a double whammy. Traditional supporters who are also remainers may not vote for them and EU nationals who may have supported them in the past will also desert them. In these circumstances they'll do well to hold onto any seats. Personally I don't think this is a cause for celebration as Councils without an effective opposition tend to be badly run.

Paul Corcoran ● 2942d

Did the Conservatives mention why the Council has less money to spend on all the things that you feel need attention?

Philippa Bond ● 2942d

So you are saying Queen Mary University and the Independent are part of a plot to bolster the Tories in the local elections?If they are, don't you think their fiendish plot may backfire? If Labour voters become aware that they have a chance of winning in places like Wandsworth and Westminster they are more likely to cast their vote rather than stay at home.

Andy Jones ● 2942d

These sorts of stories are always put out by the Press & other media just before an election to encourage Labour voters to stay home.Don’t fall for it!

Mark Walker ● 2946d

I'm not a supporter (I'm not a supporter of any party) but..."Labour to sweep London in local elections with best result for any party since 1968, new poll suggests"http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-london-local-elections-2018-win-best-results-party-poll-a8221081.html

Paul James ● 2947d

Is there really any chance of Labour losing its majority? On local issues I think most people appreciate that central Government control the purse strings so inadequate road sweeping and an increase in potholes is a problem for which the blame is shared. National issues as ever will probably be the most important determinant of how people votes and voting Labour in Ealing does not carry the risk of ending up with Jeremy Corbyn. Plus remember EU citizens get the vote and they may want to send a message to the current government.

Andy Jones ● 2947d