A week of campaigning for Sadiq Khan as Labour Mayor of London in West Ham

Some pictures from the door knocking that has been going on by various ward branches in West Ham Labour Party during the last week.

On Sunday I helped out in Custom House. Interestingly, we are also asking residents how they will vote in the European Union referendum and this ward had a high "Remain" in the EU vote.

Thursday evening we were in West Ham ward and were joined by Labour Greater London Assembly candidate for City and East London, Unmesh Desai.

Saturday morning back in West Ham this time with our MP Lyn Brown.  I had a difficult conversation with a constituent who is a council tenant in a 2 bed flat with 2 teenagers (boy and girl) and has been on the waiting list for a move to a larger property for 12 years.

I had to warn her that we have thousands of residents in a similar position or worse and that the Tory plans to make councils sell off off their homes to pay for their right to buy election bribes to Housing Association tenants will be a disaster for people like her. Sadiq Khan as Labour Mayor of London will fix the Tory Housing crisis.

Saturday afternoon I was in the former 2012 Olympic athletic accommodation blocks in what is now East Village in Stratford. The blocks we managed to get into appeared to be half empty since so few had anyone registered to vote. We can only assume that these homes are occupied by non EU nationals. This is not the Olympic legacy that we were promised.

There was a number of other canvass sessions in West Ham last week that I was not able to attend but I will try and help out at all wards during this campaign.

Social Rents in Newham are the highest in country

UPDATE: I have seen an email circulated that these figures only refer to rents charged by private registered social housing landlords (not council housing). This is even more strange. Why does Newham have the highest RSL rents in the country? What controls do we have as a Council over RSL rents? What are average rents for Council owned properties? What is the impact does the Council controlled RSL "Local Space" or the former Olympic athletes accommodation in East Village? I will update my Cllrs enquiry once I get a full reply.

"Figures showing the borough has the least affordable social housing in the country have prompted calls for action from campaigners and MP Stephen Timms.

Newham came top of 338 locations with an average rent of £128.89 a week, the Office for National Statistics data covering England and Wales revealed, but the borough was bottom when it came to pay in the capital, with average gross weekly salaries of £111.10".

I was genuinely shocked to see this report in the Newham Recorder last week. I'll raise a Councillors members enquiry to find out why the Council thinks our rents are so high.  Newham is still a relatively low cost housing area in London? Are Housing associations rents to blame? Or are the so called "affordable" (80% average of market) rents for many new Council tenants?

Average weekly social housing rent as a % of 10th percentile gross weekly salary: The 10 highest and lowest areas, England & Wales, 2014
	Local authority code	Local authority name	Weekly average social housing rent as a % of 10th percentile gross weekly salary: The 10 highest and lowest areas
	W06000001	Isle of Anglesey	43.73
	W06000010	Carmarthenshire	47.55
	E09000019	Islington	48.06
	W06000006	Wrexham	48.25
	E07000120	Hyndburn	49.79
	E07000122	Pendle	50.81
	E06000047	County Durham	51.35
	E07000140	South Holland	52.35
	E09000013	Hammersmith and Fulham	52.87
	E07000172	Broxtowe	52.88
	E09000002	Barking and Dagenham	102.47
	E07000239	Wyre Forest	103.27
	E07000065	Wealden	104.54
	E07000070	Chelmsford	107.80
	E07000069	Castle Point	110.63
	E07000179	South Oxfordshire	111.26
	E07000144	Broadland	111.57
	E07000037	High Peak	112.81
	E09000025	Newham	116.01
	E07000207	Elmbridge	122.93
	Source: Office for National Statistics, Stats Wales and Valuation Office Agency

West Ham Labour "On the Knocker" in Stratford & Ilford North

Picture update of campaigning activity by West Ham Labour members in Stratford & Ilford North. We have been door knocking, telecanvassing and delivering leaflets all week. The new blocks of flats in Stratford are notoriously difficult to get into and speak to people. We managed to get lists of Party members and supporters to ring their intercoms and let us in.

On Tuesday evening we were in East Village, which is the site of the former Olympic athletes village now converted into private & social housing. It looks like well designed and good quality housing with plenty of open spaces. The art work in the collage is in the foyer of the private owned and rented blocks. It is more than a pity that the social housing blocks appeared to have none.

Today is International Labour Day and it would be appropriate to remind developers and social landlords about "Bread and Roses".