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More homes go up for auction
Sales continue despite calls to minister
THE Town Hall held its promise to write a letter to new housing minister John Healey asking for money to repair Camden’s council homes – but then risked antagonising tenants by pushing ahead with plans to sell off two more batches of homes.
Family sized homes are among 11 properties that will be sold at two auctions this month.
The first sale will be held on Monday and will see Camden let homes in Tavistock Place, Bloomsbury; Loveridge Road, Kilburn; and Roderick Road, Hampstead, pass to private buyers.
Councillors have refused requests from tenants to freeze the sales while negotiatons are set up with the government about how Camden can raise money without selling off properties.
Mr Healey’s office received a letter from Lib Dem council leader Councillor Keith Moffitt and Conservative deputy Cllr Andrew Marshall on Monday.
“Our residents feel strongly that the government should fund the improvements to their homes, as it has done with other decent homes programmes – and we very much support this view,” said Cllr Moffitt.
His letter – sent two weeks after the New Journal first raised the issue with Mr Healey – asked the new housing minister to help improve the thousands of council homes in the borough in need of refurbishment.
In an interview with the New Journal last month, Prime Minister Gordon Brown hinted that he was ready to plough more money into council housing and government annoucements that £1.5billion will be spent on creating 20,000 new homes have been welcomed by housing campaigners, even if they still want thousands more to be built.
Some fear money will only be given for new homes, leaving Camden with the same problem of finding money to repair the portfolio of homes which survives the current sell-off programme.
Eileen Short, chairwoman of Defend Council Housing, said: “This must go hand in hand with a moratorium: the housing minister must declare a halt on further privatisation, sell-offs and demolition of council homes now.”
Tenants are calling on objectors to the sell-offs to attend a protest on the Russell Nurseries estate in Aspern Grove, Belsize Park, tomorrow (Friday) at 12.30pm.
A block of three flats on the estate are among the lots in Monday’s auction. |
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