Greens award a FAIL to Sadiq Khan's 'affordable' housing definition in London Plan

The Mayor has failed to fix the definition of an affordable home in London in his new draft London Plan, leaving average families stuck paying over the odds for so-called ‘affordable’ new homes, says Sian Berry Green Assembly Member for London.

Sian Berry said:

The Mayor’s affordable housing policies in this plan are a real let down for the average Londoner – they look set to let developers off the hook again and won’t deliver what Londoners need. 

Evidence accompanying the plan shows that so-called ‘intermediate’ housing, at only slightly less extortionate rents, will simply not do. The assessment of London’s housing needs, summarised in the plan, says that nearly half of all new housing must be at low cost social rent levels. However, in the plan the Mayor is only asking for these kinds of homes to be 30 per cent of the affordable housing provided.

With overall affordable home targets set at 35 per cent of homes, this means developers can make just one in ten homes available at social rent.

This is nowhere near what London needs. I’ve already challenged the Mayor about why he has included a definition of ‘affordable housing’ at up to 80 per cent of market rates in his draft housing strategy and yet we see this again here.

He has added a household income limit of £60,000 a year and said that affordable rents should be at 40 per cent of net income for people earning this salary, but this will leave families earning much less than this paying over £1500 a month in rent to live in what is still defined as an ‘affordable home’.

The Mayor needs to change the definition of affordable and set proper targets for homes at social rents too. Developers will always opt for the least costly option for them, and I fear this means high rents for ‘affordable’ homes will continue to be the norm under this Mayor’s plans.

Londoners can’t afford to be failed on housing by two Mayors in a row. These plans are in draft and Londoners will be able to have their say. I hope that everyone affected by high housing costs tells the Mayor that his targets for developers and his definition of affordable housing needs to change to meet their needs.

Brent Council confirm Dec 22nd extension for Wembley High Road works

Brent Council have confirmed that the Thames Water sewer works on Wembley High Road will be extended up to December 22nd. Certainly the works, which were due to be finished at the end of this week, look nowhere near completion. I understand that the concrete blockage extends further eastwards than first thought and clearing it will require further excavation.

Business on the affected closed road seeking compensation from Thames Water should follow this LINK

The final bill for the works and compensation could run into hundreds of thousands and despite their denials, Henley Homes, who are developing the  Brent House site adjacent to the sewer works, are still being suggested by locals as the most likely blockage culprit. Watch this space!

Sufra Foodbank launch Christmas Giving Calendar for children

From Sufra NW London Foodbank

Do you want to teach your children how to give and experience charity?

This year, we are publishing our Xmas Giving Calendar that is perfect for parents to encourage their children to give regularly to charity during this festive period.

Download a copy here after completing the form.

Before December, prepare a large cardboard box for your children.

Throughout the festive period, fill the box with the food items, clothing and toiletries listed on the calendar. At the end of the month, deliver your box of donations to Sufra NW London’s food bank.

We will send a certificate and present to every child who fills a collection box!

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
 

-->

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.

Quintain award Sisk £211m Wembley Park 'build to rent' contract

I reproduce below a press release from Quintain and will note only that the homes will be 'no more than 80% of market rent' - 80% is not of course affordable for those on the Council waiting list and it would be useful to know how many, if any, will be let at a significantly lower rent.

--> Quintain, the developer behind the transformation of Wembley Park, has awarded its largest ever construction contract to Sisk. The £211m contract will deliver Canada Gardens, which comprises 743 new Build to Rent homes across seven buildings and will be Sisk’s ninth project at Wembley Park.

Canada Gardens is Quintain’s latest scheme at Wembley Park and is entirely designed and purpose built for rent. Of the 743 new homes delivered, 303 of these will be London Housing Bank equivalent units and will be rented at no more than 80% of market value, including service charges, which is consistent with the London Plan thresholds for intermediate affordable housing.

These new homes – which will all be managed by Quintain’s build to rent business, Tipi – will widen Wembley Park’s family appeal with over 300 of the homes provided as two and three bed units. Shared facilities include a podium level play area and a spectacular new park with a number of activities for children. Meanwhile pet owners will be well catered for with a special dog walking area and pet garden.

The shared roof terrace will provide views of London and Wembley Stadium and residents will also have access to a club house, BBQ area, allotments and a one acre podium garden. Access to all the homes will provided via a super lobby which will also be home to a new centralised Tipi HQ and marketing suite.

This will be Sisk’s ninth project at Wembley Park in a productive 12 year history of working with Quintain in transforming the area.  During this period they have successfully delivered the 475 home Emerald Garden development, London Designer Outlet, the Hilton London Wembley Hotel and the reconfiguration and refurbishment of the Grade 2 listed Wembley Arena now the SSE Arena, Wembley.  

Angus Dodd, Chief Executive of Quintain commented:

“Sisk has delivered eight successful projects to date at Wembley Park and has been a trusted partner for 12 years. I am delighted to continue our partnership with Sisk by awarding them our biggest ever construction contract. All contractors on Quintain’s main framework are valued partners and members of a team working together to bring London property and places to life.

“The Canada Gardens development will be a fantastic new collection of purpose built rental homes which will appeal to families, couples, sharers and single people both young and old, demonstrating that Wembley Park really is a place for everyone.”

Stephen Bowcott, CEO of John Sisk & Son said:

 “At Sisk we are very proud to celebrate another milestone in the important relationship between ourselves and Quintain, who are an immensely valued client for us. We have used our previous experience over the last 12 years working with the design teams to drive efficiencies in to the project. We always look to add value to the design process with our early input and we will continue to work closely with Quintain as our trusted partner on this latest phase of the development at Wembley Park.

“It is important to us that we maintain the highest standards of project delivery and quality with a health & safety record that makes both organisations proud. We also look forward to maintaining our excellent relationship with the design team and with the community here in Brent.  Our recent “Pride of Brent” Award recognised that we are contributing to the local community by employing 40% of local labour on site.  We are delighted to give back to the local economy in this, and many other ways, with our joint engagement programmes.”

Sisk is a member of Quintain’s main contractor framework and based on its experience and long standing relationship with Quintain it was selected as the preferred main contractor to deliver Canada Gardens.  Quintain’s other contractors on site are Wates, McAleer & Rushe, McLaren and O’Keefe.

Stronger commitment to tree replacement needed in Brent's tree policy

Far sighted planners ensured that many of Brent's Council council housing estates retained mature trees or had new trees planted but under BHP's management trees were felled and not replaced leaving stumps as shown in the video above.

Brent Council has now taken back control of the estates so I was disappointed to see that in the proposed Tree Management Policy, although there is a promise to consult tenants and lease holders and to publish the arbiculture programme on the council website, there is no clear commitment to replacing felled trees or even removing the stumps. Limited budgets are behind this of course but lack of replacement contradicts the arguments in the Policy about the importance of trees in terms of clean air and improving the environment.

The proposed Policy will be discussed at the Public Realm and Resources Committee tonight LINK before going to Cabinet and I hope members will suggest that the Council have a clear costed action plan on tree replanting on its estates as well in parks and on Brent streets.

The Policy states that the Council would: 

Maintain the managed tree stock on the public highway, housing estates, parks, cemeteries and allotments; on a proactive cyclical maintenance regime to ensure that trees are in a safe and healthy condition, and minimising the risk they may pose to property, residents or the public highway. 


Limit the felling of trees to those circumstances where it is essential or clearly advisable.

Undertake pruning works following best arboriculture practice, and where possible for this to be undertaken on a scheduled basis. In addition, the council will also carry out reactive and emergency inspections as and when they are deemed necessary. 


Manage residents’ expectations by listing circumstances in which the Council will not intervene, to provide clarity on an impartial basis to all residents. 

Enhance the role of street trees in mitigating and adapting to climate change by maintaining and, where possible, increasing tree cover across the Borough. 


Encourage tree adoption and sponsorship to support planting schemes on council land. 
 

Consider replacement, where appropriate, of specific mature lime trees to mitigate against the concerns they may pose. 


  

Provide public information in advance of planned tree works, including new planting or removal schemes. 


Work closely with services to identify areas to plant new trees, in particular during regeneration and major resurfacing works. 


Use current planning legislation to protect threatened trees, and those of particular value such as those in conservation areas or protected by Tree Preservation Orders

There is much more detail in the Policy itself which I publish below

Brent CEO asked to raise the Cricklewood dump with her Barnet counterpart tomorrow

Alison Hopkins has written the following letter today:

Dear Ms Downs

I understand that you are meeting with the chief executive of Barnet Council tomorrow.

I would like to ask that, as a matter of the greatest urgency, you raise the planning application submitted to Barnet for a waste transfer facility on the A5.

I and other residents have been fighting these plans for well over a decade. Indeed, we formed a cross party and all party alliance to oppose the dump and the disastrous road layouts associated with the Brent Cross Regeneration. It is a matter of huge disappointment to local people that Brent now support the road changes: we would urge you NOT to do the same with regard to the WTF.

The current WTF is on the eastern side of the railway lines. Barnet wish to move it to facilitate the building of expensive apartments as part of the “regeneration” plans. Originally, the North London Waste Alliance opposed the move on the grounds of proximity to houses and schools, environmental aspects and the fact that they could not guarantee that HGVs would not rat run in Dollis Hill and the rest of Brent. I attach a copy of their objections: these were withdrawn at the last moment, despite all the comments still being valid. Their reasons for doing so are the subject of an FOI request which has not, as yet, been answered. The NLWA also stated that the proposed site was too small.

The current WTF causes huge nuisance from smells and emissions. It’s only saving grace is that in traffic terms it is in an industrial area although the stink carries to most of Cricklewood. The proposed WTF is RIGHT opposite thousands  of Dollis Hill homes, and an infants school which is already suffering from traffic emissions and air pollution.

The Brent Cross road layout changes, as supported by Brent Council, including those to Geron Way, Oxgate Gardens, Dollis Hill Lane and Humber Road will only encourage more rat running by the thousands of HGVs which are forecast to use the WTF each week.

I urge you to support the best interests of your council tax paying residents in Dollis Hill and Brent. These proposals are in no way in our best interests and must be opposed.

best regards

Alison Hopkins

Sadiq Khan incorporates opposition to fracking into draft London Plan

Anti-fracking protest outside Willesden Green station in 2013

London Local Energy LINK has gone quiet since the summer when it launched a public relations offensive to persuade residents that it was in their interests to support drilling in  Harlesden. LINK

The plans were opposed by local environment groups and Brent Council.

Now Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor, has incorporated opposition to fracking in the draft London Plan which is a broad plan to shape the way London develops over the next 20-25 years. The policy comes in the wake of energy companie, including London Local Energy, identifying potential fracking sites in the capital.

Khan said:

There is absolutely no place for fracking in London and I remain firm in my belief that any such application must be refused.

It is my duty to protect the health and wellbeing of Londoners, and it is well documented that the fracking process itself can cause chronic damage to public health, worsen toxic air quality and contaminate water supplies.

The harmful, negative impact of the use of fossil fuels on the environment and on the air we breathe is well known. We must instead focus our resources on developing technologies for the efficient extraction of clean, renewable forms of energy, rather than coming up with more ever innovative ways to keeping burning fossil fuels.

The UK’s Health and Safety Executive estimates that hundreds of people across the country develop lung cancer associated with silica dust exposure, which can occur during fracking. Pollutants such as VOCs and hydrogen sulphide, meanwhile, can worsen neurological problems ranging from dizziness to seizures.There are also fears that the volume of water required in fracking could lead to public water restrictions in areas prone to shortages. 

Rose Dickinson, a Friends of the Earth campaigner  said:

It’s a positive move that the Mayor is stating on principle that London should not be fracked,Though the focus has been in the North of England where most licences have been obtained, wherever fracking rears its ugly head it is opposed - and rightly so because of the known risks from the process.