London Labour adopts radical resolutions on housing - will local Labour led councils respond?

It has been clear for some time that there is a divergence between what Jeremy Corbyn said about housing and local estate regeneration at the national Labour Party Conference and what actually is happening in London councils controlled by Labour.  Clearly national policy change is also required but councils do have some room for  action and the ability to put pressure on the government through the LGA and other bodies.

At the weekend two detailed motions on housing were passed overwhelmingly at the London Labour Party Regional  Conference which should cause some rethinking of Brent Council policy. Whether it will or not is of course a matter for the rank and file members of the Brent Labour Party and the attitude of theLabour Group on the council.

Motion 1
 

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End the freeze to local housing allowances (LHA) which is making London increasingly unaffordable to people on low incomes. Shelter’s research shows that the LHA rates have already fallen behind actual rents in nearly 70% of England, meaning families are chasing an ever smaller number of properties at the bottom of the market covered by housing benefit, or are having to make up the difference by cutting back on essential spending elsewhere. The freeze will simply exacerbate this.

Shelter’s model suggests that after two years nearly all of the country will be unaffordable and the bottom third of the market will be affordable in just 20 local authorities.

Shelter defines an area as very unaffordable to benefit claimants when LHA rates fall below the 10^th percentile. Their research shows that by 2019 60 local authorities will be very unaffordable, including most of London and large parts of the Home Counties, as well as towns like Reading.

Conference supports the following actions in the Private Rented Sector:

·       Introduce controls on future rent increases, extending or a ‘system of rent caps’ to limit rent increases and ensure predictable rents.

·       Increase security through longer term tenancies and strengthening tenants’ rights not to be automatically evicted.

·       Improve standards through measures that include borough-wide licensing schemes, landlord accreditation and guaranteed minimum standards for private tenants.

·       Councils could be encouraged to introduce voluntary Rent Stabilisation Schemes, such as Camden Council’s scheme, to control rents and make them more affordable.

·       Improve industry practices through a ban on letting agents’ fees and consider the creation of council run letting agencies to promote best practice.

·       London Labour Conference will work and campaign with our Branches, forums, Affiliates, MPs, Assembly members and Councillors to achieve these aims. 

Motion 2

The London Labour Party Conference demands access to decent housing as a human right and believes that the housing needs and aspirations of Londoners should have priority over a market approach.

Conference welcomes the overwhelming support for Composite 5 at our Party’s National Conference. We also note the bold and unequivocal statements by our Party Leader on estate regeneration where he made two clear points:

·       …people who live on an estate that is redeveloped must get a home on the same site and on the same terms as before

·       …councils will have to win a ballot of existing tenants and leaseholders before any redevelopment scheme can take place

This conference supports full binding – ballot rights for estate residents in future regeneration projects in London and calls for current regeneration schemes to be stayed until councils have held ballots of all those affected.

Conference notes Shelter’s investigation, released on 28^th September 2017, where it raised concerns that Housing developers are using viability assessments to build fewer social/council homes that they had initially promised.

Conference calls upon the Mayor of London, the Greater London Authority and Labour controlled borough councils in London to maintain the existing stock of council and Housing Association housing and to work to increase it by:

·       Retaining full ownership and control of available public land

·       Increasing publicly led and controlled investment in new and existing Council and other commonly owned housing, including housing bonds alongside other direct investment.

·       Directly delivering construction and maintenance services and to commit to a training scheme for direct labour to build and maintain council housing with guaranteed jobs within the council workforce upon successful completion.

·       We need high quality council and Housing Association housing with secure lifetime tenancies and genuinely affordable rent (i.e. council target rents or Mayor of London living rent). All future developments should ensure levels of accessibility, adaptable and lifetime homes for disabled people that are all based on a clearly evidenced understanding of disabled people’s needs in each London Housing authority.

·       Exploring and promoting, where appropriate, the use and development of 100% council-owned development vehicles to build and provide at council (target) rents.

·       Supporting communities by requiring at least 1:1 advance replacement, within the same neighbourhood of council homes sold or demolished under regeneration schemes, with a minimum of 50% of any additional housing for council rents.

·       Ceasing and prevent the transfer of land to either private developers or joint venture development vehicles which cede an ownership and /or control to property developers

·       Ensure complete transparency of viability assessments – the Government’s planning guidance should make clear that viability assessments will be considered public documents.

·       The Mayor of London, in his London Plan, London Boroughs, in their local planning polices, should include residents’ consultation, and any subsequent Ballot Process in new regeneration of Council/Housing Association stock. Residents should be given full financial information on all possible options at the “appraisal” stage, not just those assessed as “viable”.

·       Promoting Co-operative housing managed by residents; development of new co-operative and mutually owned housing where supported by local communities.

·       Campaigning for a Land Value Tax for vacant or underutilised land and seeking to end the “Right to Buy”.

We further call on the Mayor of London, the GLA and councils to ensure that brownfield land, including that owned by TfL, is made available to councils for council housing development and is not sold or transferred to private developers.

This Conference:

·       Urges CLPs to campaign on estates around the capital explaining Labour Policy to support tenants’ rights when confronted with regeneration and calls on the London Labour Party to support such campaigns through any practical means.

·       Calls for all Labour Councillors to support and campaign around our Party’s policy on estate regeneration.

·       Demands the policies outlined above be prioritised in Labour’s Manifesto for London and Borough Manifestos for the 2018 Council Elections.

HDV latest: Isolated Kober declaring war on her own party

This is an update from  the Crowd Justice page of Stop the Haringey Development Vehicle LINK


Councillor Alan Strickland publicly announced his withdrawal from the selection process for Noel Park ward by posting a two page letter on social media yesterday.

In it Cllr Strickland blamed the domination of “narrow factionalism” in the Noel Park selection process for the decision before attacking “factional activists” alleging voters “simply” followed their instructions ahead of a trigger ballot, sparked by his failure to get a majority on a first round vote which would have seen him automatically reselected.

Haringey Council’s housing chief added he did not feel confident what he had to say in the second round “would be received with an open mind” in what felt like a “sectarian”, or clannish, atmosphere.

“It is with a very heavy heart I have decided to withdraw my name from the remainder of the selection process,” Cllr Strickland added before going on to thank supporters during his decade in the ward as a campaigner, branch secretary and councillor.

“I’m proud over the last eight years, despite government cuts and receiving some pretty unpleasant abuse from some quarters, that I have never compromised my principles.

He added “I’ve been honest with residents about the tough choices we face, rather than offering hollow, crowd-pleasing answers.”

But in a further dig at opponents he said he had spent a lot of time hearing what residents think “not what small bands of noisy activists like to tell us they think”.

But he made no mention of Haringey’s plan to regenerate the borough by pairing up with private developer Lendlease – attacked by critics as a public assets sell off – which as housing chief he championed and regularly came under fire over.

Highgate Liberal-Democrat councillor Clive Carter described the omission as “odd” with no defence of the Haringey Development Vehicle (HDV) plan attempted.

“The statement is insular and self-absorbed. It does not consider the large number of Haringey residents whose homes and futures, jobs and businesses would be threatened by the HDV,” Cllr Carter said. 

“This is a measure of the extent to which Haringey New Labour has become out-of touch with ordinary residents, the very people they were elected to serve,” he added.

Gordon Peters, spearheading opposition to the HDV through a judge-led review, said with both Cllrs Strickland and Goldberg standing down it leaves the Leader, Cllr Claire Kober, more isolated.

“If she is to carry on with the HDV she is virtually declaring war on her own party as they are increasingly unhappy with what this is likely to do to the borough, as are so many of us in Haringey the more that is known about it,” Mr Peters said.

He warned more selections of candidates committed to stopping the HDV could follow.

“I do not see any good sense in them continuing to try to progress it - as they may think they can do behind closed doors while they await the judicial review outcome.

“I believe the HDV has driven into the sand. It would be the height of irresponsibility to try to keep it going and waste any more time and public money on it,” he added.

However, on social media Crouch End councillor Natan Doron came out in support of “a champion of working people” stating it was a “[s]ad day for Haringey”.

Cllr Strickland will remain in post until May next year.

Spurs as both a Property Developer and Corporate Welfare client

I spotted the following blog on  Tottenham Hotspur's ventures into property development and given their stay at Wembley Stadium and our own experience of property developers thought readers might be interested, particularly where there are issues in common.  Thanks to Haringey Defend Council Housing LINK for permission to repost this article:

In a dramatic move, Tottenham Hotspur FC have announced plans for a new property development on land that Haringey Council promised on 9 October to the developer Lendlease.

Spurs say they want to build 330 new homes and a new public square.  Here is their promotional website: LINK

While Spurs and Lendlease scrap over development sites West of the Spurs Ground, Spurs are losing out over service charges and access to land on the East side of their Stadium, under a separate Lendlease development.

Lendlease were awarded the High Road West site at a Haringey Council Cabinet meeting on 9 October. The Love Lane council estate is to be demolished, and 2,500 high-value new homes built in the area. Lendlease are also the developer on the Eastern side, via the Haringey Development Vehicle.

Cllr Alan Strickland, Haringey’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Planning and Regeneration, promised at a recent Cabinet Meeting to buy Spurs’ land at High Road West, using compulsory purchase orders if necessary.  Will that promise now be carried through, we wonder?

This is the second time that Spurs has appeared as a property developer in its own right in North Tottenham, while continuing to demand ‘Corporate Welfare’ for its new Stadium.

Spurs have a major interest in the Northumberland Park school and the housing estates on the East side of the football stadium, where they are not getting their own way at all.

Their problem is that they expect Corporate Welfare: facilities for free, with added public subsidy.

The Club has a 99 year lease on a makeshift outside broadcast facility in the grounds of Dukes’ Aldridge Academy school , formerly the Northumberland Park Community School.

Spurs has aspirations for a proper, dedicated outside broadcast media facility, and also a Fan Zone, where those without tickets can watch the game on supersize outdoor display screens, and buy food and drink, etc.

Haringey Council, via the proposed HDV, which is to be half-owned and 100% managed by the developer Lendlease, proposes to move the school from behind the Spurs Ground. It is proposed to decant residents from council housing at Haynes Close, Charles Bradlaugh House and Robert Burns House, then demolish those blocks, and then build a new school there (p 1024 of cabinet papers for 3 July 2017, Public Appendices, Items 9 & 10: LINK

This is all to help Spurs out, but would take several years at least. Spurs might be thwarted, even then. A Fan Zone is currently proposed at a new Paxton Square which ‘can provide a robust and flexible paved area that would operate as a fan zone during stadium matches or events’ (p 877).

But this is a tiny area, just a few yards across, pinched between the back of the stadium and new high rise housing blocks, which could be 20 or more stories high (see image on p 1020).  It is more like a Paxton postage stamp. It is not dedicated to Spurs, but would be a public square with other suggested uses as well as the fan zone.  Presumably, makeshift barriers would be needed on match days, and its capacity would be inadequate for Spurs’ needs.

Spurs’ hoped-for Outside Broadcast Space is just an ‘Optionality’ which is ‘associated with the regeneration of Northumberland Park’… ‘The HDV will work with Tottenham Hotspur FC to find a suitable design solution for their outside broadcast space requirements. During the 100 day launch programme HDV will and consider alternative design solutions [sic].’

Nothing too definite, nothing at all on the indicative ground plans, and nothing until after the HDV has been launched.  While the HDV plans to build housing blocks right up to the back of the new Stadium.

For Spurs to have the Fan zone and the outside broadcast space they wanted, some of the developer’s proposed high rise housing could not be built, in a ‘neighbourhood that will target young professionals and creatives who are seeking a vibrant and active place to own or rent in a higher density environment’ (p 875); and p 1024 suggests that new housing built on the school playing fields would include 140 homes for tenants and resident leaseholders moving from Haynes Close/Charles Bradlaugh/Robert Burns.

Spurs wants facilities which would deny to the developer some of their potentially most lucrative residential sites.

Spurs may also have to pay hefty service charges for extra security, refuse and crowd management costs in the public realm on match days (p 945). 

These charges are  something really new – although locals have long complained bitterly about the hidden costs and inconveniences of the Spurs games. 

Spurs have erred badly by  designing a stadium which does not have the external broadcast and external fan zone facilities which they actually need.

    What next?

Maybe Spurs are using their development plan in the West as a bargaining ploy to get what they want in the East.  Maybe they do really want to build in the West. 

But either way, it is the community that will lose out from housing demolitions, and from house price and rent increases, that will drive local people from the area.

    Spurs as both a Property Developer and Corporate Welfare client  

Spurs are already acting as a property developer at the 500 White Hart Lane scheme, which gained planning consent on the casting vote of the Chair of the Committee Cllr Natan Doron (who is a leading Spurs supporter) on 12/09/16 for 144 dwellings, as well as employment and retail spaces. LINK

This Freedom of Information Request deals with Public subsidy to Spurs LINK

We know that Spurs asked Haringey Council and the GLA for £30.5 million towards the cost of the podium at the front of the new stadium, and in April this year this money was seemingly about to be made available from dedicated housing funds: LINK

The Council has denied that the money was ever paid: LINK

Leaving unanswered questions: LINK

Update on Stop Haringey Development Vehicle court case

Photo from Inside Housing

Update from Gordon Peters first published on the HDV fundraiser page LINK

Heartfelt thanks to all supporters who have contributed to this campaign so far and you will see that we have surpassed our current target for funds. This allows us to cover fees and court costs to date, and be ready for any appeal should that be needed.

The Judicial Review concluded on Thursday 26 October with David Wolfe,QC, summing up after the three barristers representing Haringey Council and Lendlease had opposed our four grounds of the HDV being unlawful - that it was a commercial venture and should be a company not a LLP, that public consultation had been lacking, that the Public Sector Equality Duty had not been upheld, and that as a plan or strategy it should have gone to a full Council. They further opposed the granting of Relief [a cap on awards] and said the claim was out of time. They took up the detail of expert advice given to the Council's Housing Regeneration Scrutiny Panel and the Overview and Scrutiny Committee recommendations which were strongly critical of the HDV as if to say how open and consultative the Cabinet had been, although the Cabinet had gone ahead despite these.

David Wolfe was then able to show, through their own documents and business plans - much of which, over 700 pages in fact, had been redacted from any public view - that the HDV was indeed a major commercial venture, that it put social as well as affordable housing at risk, that poorer and vulnerable people in households both in estates scheduled for demolition and in leaseholds were not protected, and that this could not be called anything other than a strategy. He asked that the HDV be declared unlawful and relief on costs granted, rejecting the defence claim of being out of time as the whole process had been left undecided and kept changing its terms until the July 2017 Cabinet decision was made.

The judge, Mr.Justice Ouseley, then straightaway concluded the hearing and said that he would make his decision as soon as he could. We understand that this could still take some weeks.

Meanwhile I am very glad to say that the HDV is going nowhere right now, and it increasingly looks like this fundamentally flawed joint venture should not proceed.

To the HDV 'we say not so'.

STOP THE HDV: High Court, Oct 25/26 Public vs privatisers of public property

From Stop HDV

The Judicial Review on the Haringey Development Vehicle takes place in the High Court , Royal Courts of Justice, The Strand, London WC2A 2LL on 25 and 26 October, we hope supporters can come and join us in demonstrating support from 9 to 10 am particularly on the first day 25 October.

There will also be some public seating from 10 am.

The challenge is to Haringey Council setting up a supposedly 50/50 partnership with the Australian multi-national corporation, Lendlease, to take over land and property belonging to the Council, involving demolition and regeneration of estates as well as business premises and private houses in 'red-lined areas’. If it goes ahead it will be the biggest such transfer of local authority resources to a private entity in UK history. Lendlease have now joined Haringey as a defendant of the HDV in court.

 And all this
 without consulting the public on the HDV

• or taking it to a full Council meeting
• or sharing any of the financial risks to the public purse and assessment of viability
• or considering the consequences for the very diverse population and for vulnerable people through equalities impact
• or due consideration of partnership or company status.

Just ten years after the sell off of Alexandra Palace in Haringey was averted in court, with David Wolfe, QC acting for the claimants in that case, he will lead the legal team in court on 25 October in the attempt to stop the HDV.

None of this would have been possible without the amazing support from the several hundred people who have contributed through our crowdfunding to raise £25,000. £20,000 of this is required for our community cap on any awards which will be requested of the judge. The solicitors for the case, Leigh Day, and the barristers have put a great deal of work in to it, and as a result We are now asking for another £5,000 to make up the fees and costs accruing.

We hope you will make another donation, small or large, if you possibly can. You can donate to the crowdfunder at https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/stop-hdv/

This case has implications for the future of social housing in London and beyond, and at a time of acute crisis in that and the need for alternatives to corporate control of housing, for the creation of a fairer system and an end to decanting poorer people, it could be a landmark in helping local authorities change course.

No to privatisation of public assets - StopHDV latest

From StopHDV

A Judicial Review of the Haringey Development (Demolition) Vehicle  is being filed in the High Court this week on the grounds of it not having been consulted on, never having gone to a full Council, equalities impact not having been adequately considered, and on the risk to public finances not being made transparent or explained. There was a successful crowdfunding campaign which along with local collections and donations has raised  £25,000 towards legal costs. The last update on this is HERE

The campaign is a broad coalition of forces including both constituency Labour parties, LibDems, Greens, trades unions, community organisations, residents and leaseholders associations. Despite this the ‘red Tory’ Labour Cabinet led by Claire Kober, who also is chair of London Councils, are determined to go ahead with the £2 Billion transfer of the local authority’s Council estates, land and property including over 500 business units to a partnership with Lendlease. We believe however they cannot sign any contracts while this in legal dispute and a hearing could be any time through the autumn.

September is a critical month in linking this — the biggest attempted privatisation of local authority assets in UK history — with the various similar attempts at social cleansing and depriving ordinary people of their rights to housing across London in favour of corporate developer-led ‘’regeneration’’. We are aware particularly of what Lendlease has done in Southwark, of the Cressingham Gardens campaign in Lambeth, and of new developments in Tower Hamlets, and possibly Camden, and in most cases in Labour-controlled authorities. We wish to mobilise with groups such as the Radical Housing Network, ASH, Defend Council Housing, those demanding justice for Grenfell in K and C, and others to build a fightback across London sufficient to turn the tide against these ‘’regenerations’’ which are attacking the very lives of our communities.
StopHDV is calling a march on Saturday 23 September in Haringey which will have key speakers from elsewhere as well as local and we want as many as possible from across the capital to join. First details below:

The plan so far is to assemble on Saturday 23rd September at around noon at Tottenham Green (150 yards up the hill from Seven Sisters Tube station), then march from 1pm to assemble around 2.30 - 3  at Finsbury Park.  The route should take us past Seven Sisters up West Green Road along Green Lanes to Finsbury Park. Depending on consent from the authorities, we may have to reverse the route and start at Finsbury Park.

Finsbury Park is close to two tube stations (Manor House and Finsbury Park.). It is also where Haringey, Hackney and Islington meet and not far from the Camden borders. No local Spurs match that day  (they'll be playing at Wembley) and no Arsenal one either, so no congestion on transport from football crowds.  

The start and end points should make it fairly easy for most of London to get to and from. It just needs building across London. Please tell your contacts!
More information HERE

March 30th: Haringey Against the HDV: The Social. No Permission for Demolition

Haringey Against the Haringey Development Vehicle: 

The Social. No Permission for Demolition

Thu 30 March 2017 19:00 – 23:00 TChances Arts & Music Centre, 399 High Road, N17 6QN

Haringey (Tottenham/Wood Green/Hornsey) is facing the largest attack on Council Housing and public commercial land of anywhere in the UK. This onslaught is opposed by the Labour Party in Haringey,opposed by Unite and GMB, and both MPs have called for a halt. Multiple estates are due to be demolished as the council signs a deal with Australian multinational Lendlease, a known blacklister. We know what happened in Southwark where Lendlease took the stock of council homes from 1,194 to 79.

Under The Cranes. A film by Emma-Louise Williams.

"Using the script of poet Michael Rosen’s documentary play, the film is intercut with rarely seen archive footage, much of which shows the locality’s commitment to social housing. As we hear from the famous – Shakespeare in Shoreditch, Anna Sewell, Anna Barbauld – alongside a Jamaican builder, a Bangladeshi restaurant owner or the Jewish 43 Group taking on Oswald Mosley in Dalston, we see past and present streets, parks, cemeteries and markets."

Q and A with Director Emma-Louise Williams.

Michael Rosen: Comment, questions and poetry from the award winning author Michael Rosen (ps his new book on Emile Zola is excellent).

MC: Ava Vidal: Famed Comedian and star of Mock the Week, Newsnight,Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, Comedy Central's The World Stands Up, Edinburgh and Beyond and C4 reality show Kings of Comedy.

LIVE MUSIC With the superb Franco/Roma singer FLORENCE JOELLE and Band. A Truly excellent performer and a friend of Tottenham, who else could write an ode to the 29 Bus.

Campaign Update: Find out what is going on with the largest assault on Council owned properties in the UK and how we address it. Featuring Veteran Tottenham Activist Stafford Scott and other local activists and what you can do to help.

If you haven't booked you can still pay at the door.