Full Council tomorrow includes a debate on a 'visitor levy' on Brent hotels

 

There are some people who say Brent Council can't tell the difference between its bottom and the knobbly bit on the bend of its arm. I couldn't possibly comment, but the notice on its 'landing' webpage https://www.brent.gov.uk/ could be cited as evidence and  the mistake is repeated on the 'Council meetings and decision making' page,

Tomorrow's meeting is in fact Full Council and there are a number of important  items that members of the public may miss if they are misled by the notice.

The items include questions from the public and Brent Youth Parliament members to Cabinet members  on debt collection practices when residents are facing the cost of living crisis, and council seeking the voices of young peope on crime and safety.

There are petitions on the exorbitant rent increase faced by the East Lane Theatre, against modification or discharge of the restrictive covenant on Barham Park, and against the Nablus Twinning arrangement. The latter does not mention that the lead petitioner, Iain Collier, is the Reform candidate for Brent West.

 There are the usual party group motions. The Tories line up with Reform on Nablus,  Lib Dems twist Brent Counci's current 'Don't Mess with Brent' environment campaign with a motion entitled 'Stop Messing Up Brent' and Labour move one on encouraging schools to restrict use of smart phones and another on protecting the rights of delivery riders and the safety of pedestrians.

 The penultimate item is the non-cabinet members debate with a motion moved by Cllr Mary Mitchell. I declare an interest as I have previously advocated a Brent Visitor Tax to raise funds to mitigate the impact of Wembley Stadium and Arena visitors on local residents:

 Motion for Non-Cabinet Member debate

Empowering Brent with Visitor Levy Powers to Support Our
Communities

This Council notes:

 The growing number of successful events taking place in Wembley, which are a vital part of Brent’s local economy, attracting visitors from across the country and around the world, supporting jobs (1,800 Brent jobs from the Stadium),
businesses and hospitality across our borough.

 Each additional non-sporting event at Wembley Stadium generates an estimated £4.35 million through direct local expenditure. With Oasis, Coldplay and other acts arriving this summer, Wembley Park will be in the spotlight as a world-class cultural destination.

 Hotel occupancy is high across Wembley during events at the Stadium or the
Arena and capacity is estimated at nearly 1,800 rooms.

 Aside from the significant economic benefits, major events in Wembley
understandably bring additional pressures on residents, including disruption,
waste, congestion, noise and increased demand on council services.

 Brent Council is working proactively to mitigate these challenges, partnering with Wembley Stadium to ensure tickets are shared in the local community, giving residents access to events happening on their doorstep.

 Glasgow City Council has been granted powers to introduce a modest Visitor
Levy (on average £4.83 per night), which could generate £16m in additional
income from overnight stays, with the funds ringfenced for services such as street
sweeping, parks, infrastructure, and environmental enforcement.

This Council also notes:

 The recommendation made by the London Assembly, that the Mayor of London should ‘advocate for London’s live music industry to introduce a voluntary levy on arena and stadium tickets to support grassroots music venues in London.’

This Council believes:

 Brent should be empowered by government with powers to introduce a visitor
levy on hotel and short-stay accommodation within the borough.

 The revenue generated should be invested into transforming Brent’s public realm making Brent greener through investment in street trees and green infrastructure, enhanced street cleaning, and additional waste enforcement officers.

 A visitor levy would ensure those who benefit from Brent’s world-class facilities also contribute a small amount towards maintaining high-quality services and a cleaner, greener borough.

 This is a progressive, and practical measure utilised across European cities and
could supplement council funding at a time when local authorities like Brent face
sustained financial pressures.

This Council therefore resolves to:

(1) Write to the Secretary of State, calling for London boroughs, including Brent to be granted the powers to introduce a discretionary visitor levy on overnight stays.

(2) Write to the Mayor of London to support the London Assembly call for a voluntary levy on stadium and arena tickets to fund grassroots cultural opportunities.

(3) Continue to work with partners including Quintain, the FA, event organisers,
businesses and residents to ensure that the benefits of Wembley’s success are
shared fairly, and that residents' voices shape our work to establish a Visitors
Levy here in Brent.

(4) Work with London Councils, the GLA, and the LGA to build cross-party support for an amendment to the English Devolution Bill to grant the powers necessary to all local authorities to introduce Visitors Levies where supported.

Cllr Mary Mitchell
Welsh Harp ward

 

The full agenda for the meeting can be found HERE (fingers crossed!)

WEBCAST 6PM 

Guest post: 'We cannot rely on the private market to solve the housing crisis. We must think outside the box and demand more from central government'

The former Liberal Democrat councillor for Alperton, Anton Georgiou,  drew on his experience in Brent when he addressed the London Liberal Democrat Summer Forum as part of a panel on housing. His address is published here as a guest blog post.  Housing is a major national and local issues and other guest posts on the issue are welcomed.

 

I am a former Councillor in a part of London that has experienced its fair share of development and building. In my time as a Councillor, I was a vocal, often lone voice, on the need to prioritise the delivery of genuinely affordable family homes and for local authorities to focus on increasing their own Council stock to address ever growing house waiting lists. 

 

The key to tackling the housing crisis in London and nationwide must be to vastly increase the type of homes our communities require. There must be recognition that most people who are trapped without a decent home, on housing waiting lists cannot afford to privately rent and they are not able to buy their own home. Saturating the market with more of the same, mostly unaffordable, unattainable properties, is not the answer. I know from personal experience that taking this line, does put you in direct conflict with the ‘build, build, build’ brigade, but I strongly believe we must, as a party, develop an approach that both ensures the delivery of more homes and most importantly what Londoners actually need – far more genuinely affordable homes and social/ Council properties.

 

The problem in a nutshell is that ever since damaging policies like ‘Right to Buy’ were introduced, Council and social housing stock across London has significantly depleted. We having been knocking down and selling off annually more social homes than we have been building. All governments, political parties have failed to address the diminishing Council homes stock problem, which is why we are now in a situation where local authorities are frankly unable to even begin to reduce the number of people on housing waiting lists. Every week, thousands of Londoners present at Town Halls, Civic Centres, across the city, as homeless. They join tens of thousands of Londoners who sometimes wait upwards of a decade for a suitable Council home to be available for them to move into. The problem is much the same in other parts of the country, and whilst we feel it acutely here, given our population, I can tell you from my time working in temporary accommodation hostels in other parts of the country – the situation is dire nationwide.

 

Local authorities are currently spending huge amounts of money on temporary accommodation, in the case of Brent, BnB’s outside of London, simply to ensure individuals who have no where to go, do not end up on the street. If local authorities had been prioritising the building of social homes, as they should have been for the past 40 years, we may not be in as bad a situation as we are now. 

 

Some will lead you to believe, that this is a simple supply and demand problem. Increasing the supply of all tenure types, including leasehold properties, which should be banned, Shared Ownership units, which simply put are a scam that should never be classified as ‘affordable housing’, as well as unaffordable for most, private market tenures, will deal with our current crisis. This could not be further from the truth. 

 

We will not tackle the housing crisis by continuing the path that London, the country, has been on since the 1980’s. Things are not getting better – they are getting much, much worse.

 

What needs to happen now, is a revolution in Council home building, but also in ensuring maximum use of existing stock, including bringing empty properties back into use. It will require bold action, and frankly for us to think outside of the box and demand much more from national government to make it happen.

 

The Chancellors recent announcement of £39 billion to drive an increase in the number of affordable homes across the country over the next decade, should be welcomed, but as ever, the devil is in the detail. Detail that has not been very forthcoming to date. And I fear, like most of this Labour government’s announcements, when the detail is revealed, things will start to unravel.

 

Despite the £39 billion commitment, the government have not set a target for how many social and Council homes they will build with this money – nor have they been explicit about the tenure types, they will include as part of their affordable homes offer. I know from my time in Brent, that often a whole load of tenure types are lumped together within the ‘affordable offer’ to boost numbers and falsely project that those in power are meeting their housing targets. This must not be allowed to continue.

 

As Liberal Democrats we need to be clear in our resolve that we will only accept investment in high-quality, permanent Council homes, as the best use of this money from the Treasury, and indeed any further money that we must all hope will be identified to ensure the delivery of Council homes at scale.

 

I was pleased to see Liberal Democrat MPs push for a vote to force the government to set a far more ambitious target on increasing social homes – 150,000 in this Parliament alone. This is something we also need to be demanding of every single local authority in London too, as well as from City Hall.

 

However, when targets are in place, it is essential that we hold those in power to account, in delivering them. There is simply no point in having targets, as most local authorities do, often wedded into Local Plans, that state private developers must deliver 50% ‘affordable’, which is an ambiguous term that has never been universally defined, when in the end most Councils let developers off the hook because of ‘ever increasing costs’ and the ‘financial viability’ excuse.

 

We cannot rely on developers alone to tackle this crisis. By their nature private developers are driven by profit, their interests are not often the interests of our communities. Therefore, local authorities need to have greater control when dealing with these profit minded organisations across the city. However, we can still make use of private developers. One thing I would want to explore is finding a way of negotiating with private developers to reduce Community Infrastructure Levy and Section 106 contributions, in exchange for them delivering additional genuinely affordable units, social homes, at or under the LHA rate. The concept of CIL is about offsetting the impact of development, well I see no greater way to payback to the community, than by potentially increasing the number of homes available in our communities – for people who desperately need them.

 

To add, Councils are always glad to collect CIL contributions, but what I have found from my time in Brent and in accessing the data from other London authorities, is that many tens of millions are hoarded rather than spent effectively quickly, as should be the case. I would much prefer to see developers guaranteeing the delivery of further genuinely affordable units, over allowing Labour Council’s to hoard money, because frankly, I do not trust Labour to spend money well.

 

The money that does currently exist, in Brent for example, over £100 million in the CIL pot, could and should be unlocked to assist the Council in ramping up its own Council homes building programme. Council’s need to be given greater tools and resource to build their own quality stock. The government and City Hall need to step in to realise this ambition. 

 

I will end by saying this. Every Londoner deserves a decent, safe, affordable place to call home. This after all is the foundation for all our lives. Without this foundation, people are massively impacted, one’s ability to work, to study, to feel secure, it robs our young people of the ability to not just get by but get on and take full advantage of living in the best city in the world. This is why we need to be bold and radical in our approach. There isn’t time to tinker around the edges, and place sticking plasters on this crisis. We cannot rely on the private market to solve this crisis. It will take an interventionist approach, and the Liberal Democrats in London must lead the way on this.

 

 

Brent Community Land Trust Consultation Days - July 12h and July 17th

 

Member Newsletter June 2025 Welcome to Brent Community Land Trust's June Newsletter! Our June newsletter is a little late 😅 , but that’s because  so much has been happening, we wanted to make sure we included all the latest updates. As always, please get in touch with us if you want to find out more. Cabinet Approval In April 2025,  Brent Council's Cabinet granted Brent CLT an extension until March 2026 to develop proposals for the Brentfield Road site, NW10. The Cabinet welcomed and supported our commitment towards encouraging and supporting community-led housing projects in the borugh Learn more July Drop in Sessions We want to hear from you! We're now at an exciting stage, and want to hear your feedback and ideas about our plans to deliver affordable housing.   Drop in and meet us and our architects, Bell Phillips . When: Saturday, Jul 12, 2025 | 10:00am - 1:00pm Thursday, Jul 17, 2025 |   6:00pm - 8:00pm Where: Corner of Gloucester Close/Stonebridge Park, NW10 If you can't attend in person you can still participate by completing our online survey. Introducing Sapphire Independent Housing We have now identifed a preferred Registered Provider, Sapphire Independent Housing, who will work with us to  develop  and manage our first scheme.   Sapphire is a small provider, but manage  several schemes across London.  Their mission is “providing homes to improve lives and enable people to live independently”. Brent CLT  Board met with Sapphire in February 2025 to agree ways of working and next steps, and we are looking forward to working closely with a provider so aligned to our values. Find out more about Sapphire New Board Members We are really pleased to have recruited two new board members to Brent CLT Edith and Cristina bring a great deal of skills and experience to their roles, which will help drive forward the work of Brent CLT. You can read more on our website Our current timeline In June 2025, we signed a grant agreement with the Greater London Authority (GLA). This means we now have funding for the technical and professional support needed to prepare and submit a planning application. Our aim is to submit a planning application by late Autumn 2025. Have you told a friend about Brent CLT? Please do share this newsletter and encourage others to become members of Brent CLT or  to join our mailing list.  Our social media posts are also an easy way to share what we do with a wider audience. Brent CLT Events Calendar 12 Jul 2025 - Community Consultation, 10am-1pm, Gloucester Close/Stonebridge Park, NW10 17 Jul 2025 - Community Consultatiom, 6pm,-8pm, Gloucester Close/Stonebridge Park, NW10 14 Sep 2025 - Queen’s Park Day,  (stall location tbc) 12pm - 5:30pm, Queens Park NW6

Ends July 12th: Exhibition - Decolonising Brent: Erasure and Visibility, Resistance & Representation - Willesden Green Library

 

BREAKING: MLM Property Management to take over management of 'several' Quintain blocks from FirstPort including Emerald Gardens

 In 2015 First Port announced  with a fanfare that they had been appointed by Quintain to manage the Emerald Gardens scheme in Wembley Park. FirstPort wins Quintain’s Emerald Gardens regeneration project

Nearly 10 years on they are handing Emerald Gardens over to MLM Property Management.

CHANGE OF MANAGEMENT – Emerald Gardens, North West Village, Wembley, London, HA9 0FT

As you may be aware, FirstPort will sadly no longer be managing Emerald Gardens from 19 August 2025. We are deeply disappointed to lose you as a customer and we will ensure the handover of information is as seamless as possible so that there is minimum disruption to you and your fellow residents.

Your new managing agent is MLM - Michael Laurie Magar and they will take over all management responsibilities on 19 August 2025.

The balance owed on your account at 18 August 2025 will be removed from our system and transferred over to MLM - Michael Laurie Magar - this will include any credits accrued on the account. All funds owed at that point will need to be paid to your new agent and not FirstPort. If you pay for your charges by Direct Debit, this will be cancelled on our system.

On behalf of FirstPort, I would like to wish you all the best in the future with your new managing agent, and If you have any questions or need assistance, please visit our Contact Us page at https://www.firstport.co.uk/contact-firstport/.

MLM confirmed to Wembley Matters they are taking over the management of several of Quintain's Wembley Park blocks in addition to Emerald Gardens but full details will only be revealed when a press release in agreed with Quintain.

 Much has happened regarding FirstPort since 2015.. In 2018 here were complaints from residents in other blocks in Wembley Park about steep rises in service charges  Forum and Quadrant residents face huge service charge increases  that FirstPort tried to justify  First Port attempt to justify leap in service charges at Quadrant Court, Wembley Park

Barry Gardiner MP for Brent West brought up the conduct of several managing agents, including FirstPort in the Westminster Hall Leaseholders and Managing Agents debate on the 28th February 2023 LINK 

 Gardiner said about FirstPort:

 FirstPort’s response to those and the more than 500 more complaints like them that I have received is to make no response and ignore things for as long as possible—for months and years, not days and weeks. There is a lack of accountability and transparency over what the residents are charged for and whether the costs are reasonably incurred and reasonable in amount. There is a total failure to provide leaseholders with a breakdown of service charges. Many of my constituents can wait more than 20 months for accounts to be finalised.

Even when FirstPort admits that refunds are owed to the leaseholder because of double counting, overcharging or charging for services not provided, the requests for the return of the overpayments are often ignored, or the returns can take many months to be made. FirstPort also charged multiple administration penalty charges of £60 each when someone queried the costs. One resident ended up being billed for more than £400 of admin charges and was then browbeaten into paying because of the threat of legal action.

In 2019, Nigel Howell, the then chief executive, conceded to me that it was unlawful for his company to impose late penalty fees on leaseholders who had disputed their charges—but not all leaseholders have been refunded. Nigel Howell also confirmed to me that his company had charged costs for areas not under FirstPort’s management and promised that a 20% refund would be given in the following year’s accounts. Strangely, Nigel Howell was removed from his post as chief executive.

After years of suffering, one brave, resilient resident finally took FirstPort to the tribunal. FirstPort sought to rely in its defence on two factors: it tried to rely on the payments made by leaseholders—in other words, by paying up they had intimated consent; and, especially ironic given the FirstPort practice of delay, it tried to rely on the length of time the leaseholder had taken in bringing the challenge to the tribunal.

On Friday 13 January, the last working day before the hearing, I received the following email in my office from my constituent at 5 pm:

“They are settling all of the claim. Their lawyers harassed me all week and made the offer on Friday afternoon, just hours before the hearing this Monday. They did not want this case heard as they have been lying to Barry. They owe money to 202 families.” 

Complaints from residents across the country moved Labour MPs to convene a meeting with FirstPort about their concerns in January this year. FirstPort under fire from MPs over service charge hikes   

David Pinto-Duschinsky, who co-chaired the meeting with FirstPort, said: 

I’ve had dozens and dozens of complaints about FirstPort’s unacceptable service charge hikes, poor service and lack of responsiveness and transparency.

All too often they are using leaseholders as little more than cash cows to be milked for every penny. People are paying more and more, and getting less and less. Enough is enough, this group of Labour MPs has come together to do everything we can to hold these unscrupulous managing agents to account.

In the same month leaseholders in Faversham Lakes new build project managed to oust FirstPort as managing agents: FirstPort dropped from Kent housing estate amid residents’ revolt over fees

 In February this year the relevant  trade body suspended FirstPort:  FirstPort suspended from its own trade body the Property Institute

'We demand the London CIV divests from companies involved in genocide & war crimes' - protest Thursday July 3rd

Brent Council Pension Fund invests a large portion of the fund through the London Collective Investment Vehicle (LCIV), in common with other London boroughs. The CIV lacks democratic accountability - a situation that will worsen if government plans to merge CIVs into super investment vehicles are enacted.

Local borough divestment campaigns have recognised that as well as lobbying their local pension fund committees to divest they have to unite across London to put pressure on the CIV fund managers.

Shake the CIV write: 

On Thurday 3rd July, Shake the CIV – a grassroots coalition of over 30 London-based groups – will protest outside the London Collective Investment Vehicle (CIV) Summer Conference at the Tower of London, demanding an end to the use of council funds to finance companies complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza and illegal occupation of Palestine.

Shockingly ahead of the July 3 annual meeting, the London CIV has removed their previous statement of complicit companies from their website. LINK

While Israel continues to rain bombs on innocent civilians, London councillors will gather at a lavish conference to discuss how the funds they manage can be further invested in the companies facilitating the bloodshed in Gaza. 

Shake the CIV will greet councillors attending the conference and demand that the over £7 billion of complicit funds the CIV manages immediately divested from arms manufacturers, bonds, and corporations profiting from war crimes and occupation.

The London CIV pools pension funds from all 32 London boroughs. Those funds are currently invested in weapons and technology firms including Elbit Systems, BAE Systems, and Lockheed Martin, all of which supply the Israeli military.

Despite claiming that "responsible investment is not only a moral imperative but an economic necessity," the CIV has failed to take meaningful action to divest from these companies. 

Speaking on why they are protesting, campaigner Sarah Omar said: 

At a time when councils are strapped for cash, the CIV is splurging on a lavish day out for councillors, complete with a guided tour of the Crown Jewels, the very symbols of colonial plunder that many of these investments sustain. 

It’s an insult to Londoners and a betrayal of Palestinians suffering under genocidal companies the CIV continues to bankroll.

We demand the London CIV divests from companies involves in genocide and war crimes, and that our councillors use their decision-making power at the CIV to make this happen.

 

Double events to unite the Brent community July 3rd and July 6th with the Met and Multi-faith Forum

Towards a safer and more united community: 

The Brent Multi-faith Forum and the Metropolitan Police invite you to take part in an interactive public meeting and workshop focused on creating a safer, kinder, and more united community. These events will bring together faith leaders, community leaders, and local residents to address key concerns and collaborate on actionable solutions.

 

 

Event Details:

 

Date: 3 July 2025  Time: 4 - 7pm  Location: Neasden Temple, The Swaminarayan School, Brentfield Road, London, NW10 8HE. 

 

 

 

 

Event Details:

 

Date: 6 July 2025  Time: 4 - 7pm  Location: St Mary with All Souls, 134A Abbey Road, London, NW6 4SN  

 

 

 

Topics for Discussion:

• Safety for young people 

 • Safety for women and girls 

• Cohesion, kindness and promoting prosocial behaviour What to Expect: 

• Group workshops with focused table discussions. 

• Facilitated sessions to identify practical, community-led solutions. 

• Refreshments