Convent Way in Heston is the site of 20 NEW COUNCIL homes - the first to be built in Hounslow for over 20 years. I was so pleased and proud to be at the celebration yesterday to see the houses before the first tenants move in by Christmas. Councils haven't been able to build Council housing since Thatcher's time, but the Labour Government started the work to make that possible for Councils with high-performing ALMOs (Arms Length Management Organisations that manage our Council Housing). We met Yvette Cooper to thrash out the details when she was housing minister around 2004, and my only regret is that it has taken so long for the first ones to get built and let. Initially the legal complexities took forever, but now that is sorted we have a whole lot under construction and should be ready for letting next year.
After these though, the future is bleak. Capital funding for most affordable Council and Housing Association new-build is dependent on Government funding, via the HCA (Homes and Communities Agency). Their future funding for London has been halved from the last budget, and most of what they have is already allocated. It looks as though ever more families will be living in high-cost private rented and/or overcrowded housing. This government has absolutely no interest in London's fundamental housing problem - that "the market" delivers homes only at or above the level that many earn - compare private rents with, say the London Living Wage. Good quality affordable housing is more necessary than ever.
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