"End our Cladding Scandal: Developers make £5.2 billion in profits while leaseholders face huge bills for safety works"

Need I say any more? Except many leaseholders are not only facing massive bills for the removal of dangerous cladding but also to make good other shoddy and incomplete safety work. While the government as the ultimate regulator of building standards should take responsibility so should the developers and the new home warranty insurers. 

Hat tip Inside Housing (pay wall)

 

Labour Party Manifesto 2019: Housing

"Everyone has the right to a decent, secure home. In 1945, Labour promised to ‘proceed with a housing programme with the maximum practical speed until every family in this island has a good standard of accommodation’. 

In 2019, we renew that pledge.But too many people are being denied their right to a good home by our housing system that treats homes as financial assets rather than places to live. 

There is no starker symbol of the failing housing system than the horror of the Grenfell Tower fire. A Labour government will bring system-wide change, so that a tragedy like Grenfell never happens again. 

We will introduce a £1 billion Fire Safety Fund to fit sprinklers and other fire safety measures in all high rise council and housing association tower blocks, enforce the replacement of dangerous Grenfell style cladding on all high-rise homes and buildings, while introducing mandatory building standards and guidance, inspected and enforced by fully trained Fire and Rescue Service fire safety officers. 

Grenfell Tower was the confirmation of a more far reaching crisis. Everyone knows of someone affected by the housing crisis: younger people unable to buy a first home, renters trapped in damp flats, families stuck on council waiting lists, leasehold home-owners hit by unfair fees, people who are homeless living and dying on our streets. The gap between the housing haves and have-nots is at the heart of the injustice in our country today. 

Since 2010, the Conservatives have slashed funding for new homes, refused to regulate for higher standards and given a free hand to commercial property developers. There are fewer new homes for social rent, a million more households stuck renting from a private landlord, 900,000 fewer young people owning a home and more than twice as many people sleeping on our streets. Only Labour has a plan to fix the housing crisis. 

We will act on every front to bring the cost of housing down and standards up, so that everyone has a decent, affordable place to call home. Labour will create a new Department for Housing, make Homes England a more accountable national housing agency and put councils in the driving seat. We will set out a strategy for a flourishing construction sector with a skilled workforce and full rights at work. 

Labour will set up a new English Sovereign Land Trust, with powers to buy land more cheaply for low-cost housing. We will use public land to build this housing, not sell it off to the highest bidder. 

Developers will face new ‘use it or lose it’ taxes on stalled housing developments. We will keep the Land Registry in public hands, and make ownership of land more transparent. We will make brownfield sites the priority for development and protect the green belt.

Labour will tackle the climate crisis and cut energy bills by introducing a tough, new zero-carbon homes standard for all new homes, and upgrading millions of existing homes to make them more energy efficient. 

We will review the planning guidance for developments in flood risk areas. Council and Social Homes The only way to deliver on everyone’s right to a good home is to build publicly funded social housing. 

Labour will deliver a new social house building programme of more than a million homes over a decade, with council housing at its heart. By the end of the Parliament we will be building at an annual rate of at least 150,000 council and social homes, with 100,000 of these built by councils for social rent in the biggest council house building programme in more than a generation. 

We will establish a new duty on councils to plan and build these homes in their area, and fund them to do so, with backing from national government. 

We will scrap the Conservatives’ bogus definition of ‘affordable’, set as high as 80% of market rents, and replace it with a definition linked to local incomes. These council and housing association homes will be more affordable than market housing and built to higher standards. 

We will end the conversion of office blocks to homes that sidestep planning permission through ‘permitted development’.

We will stop the haemorrhage of low cost homes by ending the right to buy, along with the forced conversion of social rented homes to so-called ‘affordable rent’. 

We will review the case for reducing the amount of housing debt councils currently hold. And we will give councils the powers and funding to buy back homes from private landlords. 

We will give tenants a stronger say in the management of their homes and stop social cleansing by making sure regeneration only goes ahead when it has the consent of residents, and that all residents are offered a new property on the same site and terms. 

We will fund a new Decent Homes programme to bring all council and housing association homes up to a good standard. Home Ownership Under the Tories, home ownership is getting further out of reach for more and more people. 

Numbers of new affordable homes to buy have fallen, and fewer younger people can afford their own home. 

We will build more low-cost homes reserved for first-time buyers in every area, including Labour’s new discount homes with prices linked to local incomes. 

We will reform Help to Buy to focus it on first-time buyers on ordinary incomes. 

We will introduce a levy on overseas companies buying housing, while giving local people ‘first dibs’ on new homes built in their area. 

We will bring empty homes back into use by giving councils new powers to tax properties empty for over a year. Labour will end the scandal of leasehold for the millions who have bought their home but don’t feel like they own it. 

We will end the sale of new leasehold properties, abolish unfair fees and conditions, and give leaseholders the right to buy their freehold at a price they can afford. We will introduce equivalent rights for freeholders on privately owned estates. 

Private Renters More than 11 million people rent from a private landlord and many of them are at the sharp end of the housing crisis. We will take urgent action to protect private renters through rent controls, open-ended tenancies, and new, binding minimum standards. Labour will stop runaway rents by capping them with inflation, and give cities powers to cap rents further. 

We will give renters the security they need to make their rented housing a home, with new open-ended tenancies to stop unfair, ‘no fault’ evictions. 

We will make sure every property is up to scratch with new minimum standards, enforced through nationwide licensing and tougher sanctions for landlords who flout the rules. 

We will fund new renters’ unions in every part of the country – to allow renters to organise and defend their rights.

We will get rid of the discriminatory rules that require landlords to check people’s immigration status or that allow them to exclude people on housing benefit. 

We will give councils new powers to regulate short-term lets through companies such as Airbnb. 

Homelessness No one should sleep without a roof over their head in one of the richest countries in the world. But under the Tories, the number of people sleeping rough has more than doubled. Over 125,000 children are now living in temporary accommodation, without a home to call their own – or the space they need to thrive. 

Labour will tackle the root causes of rising homelessness with more affordable homes and stronger rights for renters. Labour will end rough sleeping within five years, with a national plan driven by a prime minister-led task force. We will expand and upgrade hostels, turning them into places where people can turn their lives around. We will make available 8,000 additional homes for people with a history of rough sleeping. 

We will tackle the wider causes of homelessness, raising the Local Housing Allowance in line with the 30th percentile of local rents, and earmarking an additional £1 billion a year for councils’ homelessness services.

We will bring in a new national levy on second homes used as holiday homes to help deal with the homelessness crisis, so that those who have done well from the housing market pay a bit more to help those with no home. 

We will save lives this winter by ensuring extra shelters and support are in place in all areas. And we’ll repeal the Vagrancy Act and amend antisocial behaviour legislation to stop the law being used against people because they are homeless.

(Long post but what a brilliant housing manifesto. Restoring the political duty to decent homes for all is key. If this is implemented we will solve the housing crisis in Newham and elsewhere. I have put bold emphasis and underlined what I think are the most key commitments)

Newham goes green for Grenfell

Newham Council has gone green for Grenfell to commemorate those who lost their lives in the tragic fire two years ago.

Both the Old Town Stratford and Newham Town Hall in East Ham were lit up last night (Thursday 13 June) in recognition of the anniversary and to show support for those directly affected by the devastating event that occurred on 14 June 2017. The Mayor and councillors also wore green to demonstrate their solidarity with the community.

Today (14 June) marks two years since the Grenfell tragedy where 72 people lost their lives after a fire broke out in the 24-storey block of flats in North Kensington. In the days after the fire, the Grenfell community came together in a great show of unity and support and an enormous amount of support poured in from across the whole of the UK. As part of the Green for Grenfell campaign, the campaigning group Grenfell United is asking communities and schools to come together to promote unity, spirit and resilience by wearing green.

Councillor John Gray, Deputy Mayor for Newham and Cabinet Member for Housing Services said: “We must never forget the Grenfell fire tragedy and this is why we are going green for Grenfell. We want to show solidarity with the community changed forever in the early hours of the morning on June 14, 2016. These lives must not be lost in vain. This must never happen again and as a council, we must ensure we learn from the mistakes made. The safety of our residents must never be taken for granted and is our priority. We have learnt valuable lessons and we must carry on doing all we can to protect our residents.”

Since the Grenfell disaster in June 2017, Newham Council has carried out significant work on all its tower blocks to improve fire safety. Three council owned tower blocks – Ferrier Point in Canning Town and Nicholls Point and Tanner Point in Plaistow North – all used Aluminium Composite Material cladding, the same material on Grenfell Tower. This material has been removed and a non-combustible material (EWI) is currently being installed on the three blocks. This work is due to end at the end of July and is funded in part by a successful grant from the Ministry of Housing and Local Communities.

Additionally, a resident engagement team was set up in 2017 to work with council tenants and leaseholders to ensure all the necessary safety measures were in place, both in communal areas an all individual flats and implementing anything further which might be required. The team has led on a robust programme of work in partnership with London Fire Brigade, visiting all blocks across the borough to carry out fire safety checks. This includes:

85 high rise blocks
1,169 low rise blocks
Thousands of enhanced fire safety visits to individual residents
An extensive programme of tenancy audits
New fire safety signage fitted across the council’s housing stock.

All Fire Risk Assessments to tall blocks are up to date and will continue to publish them on www.newham.gov.uk

The council also received a grant of £20,000 from London Fire Brigade to fund a range of fire safety equipment.

For further information visit www.grenfellunited.org.uk or follow the hashtag #Green4GrenfellDay​

(hat tip Newham Council website)

Newham Full Council Meeting 18 June 2018 - 3 minute update on Housing Services

Picture from the new style Newham Full Council meeting at East Ham Town Hall yesterday evening. The most people I have ever seen at a normal Council meeting I think?

As the Cabinet member of Housing Services I gave a 3 minute report on what I had been doing (see below) and answered 4 written questions from the public. 

"Chair, Like my cabinet colleagues, I have had a busy few weeks going walkabout around Newham estates, blocks, housing schemes and projects; talking to residents, service users, management, officers from the GLA, other councils, the local voluntary sector and front line housing staff about the good and the bad in Newham Housing.

Nearly everyone recognises we have a housing crisis and it is not only a crisis in London but a national crisis up and down the land. 

Yet, in Newham, We have our own challenges and opportunities, including having the longest Council waiting list in London with 26000 households chasing around 570 vacent properties every year. For every single social rent home that comes available, there are 44 households who want a move. 

We also have the highest number of homeless in London and we have thousands of residents in social housing, in the private rented sector and in owner owner occupation, who suffer from overcrowding and poor quality homes.

I have had children taking exams contact me because they have no where to go at home to study and revise. We have grown up children in their 30s and 40s, still living with their parents, not through choice, but because they cannot afford to move out and find their own homes. 

We will continue to campaign and press the Government to work with us to eliminate slum landlords, overcrowding and homelessness, while looking to transform how we deliver housing services in Newham. Residents will be at the heart of this.

In the Autumn, we will start a review from top to bottom of the borough allocations policy and then look at a rebirth of Tenant and Residents representation and participation in our borough 

Following on from the first anniversary of Grenfell disaster, today, I agreed in consultation with the Mayor, to spend £10 million on essential fire safety contracts and to spend a further £10 million on fire safety by end of the financial year. Details to be published. 

We expect the Government to live up to its promises to fully fund these essential fire safety works. Even though the money that they have promised councils so far appears to be inadequate. If we don’t get our money we may have another fight on our hands. 

Thank you Chair. 

Why Local Authorities need "honest serving" men and women with the tools to ensure effective scrutiny

I have just been re-reading an excellent hard hitting report published earlier this month by the Select Committee on Communities and Local Government.

The Select Committee examined the grossly inadequate scrutiny arrangements in many Local Authorities. The deaths in Mid Staffordshire hospital and child sex abuse in Rotherham Council were given as examples of failures in scrutiny.

"Clive Betts, Chair of the Communities and Local Government Committee, said:

Scrutiny is marginalised at too many local authorities, which in extreme cases can contribute to severe service failures, letting down council taxpayers and those that rely on services.

Scrutiny of those in power is a vital part of any democratic system and has huge benefits for all. We are calling on the Government to strengthen guidance to make overview and scrutiny committees truly independent of those they are charged with holding to account and to make sure the process is properly funded and respected.

Only by rebalancing the system and ensuring scrutiny is held in high esteem will we see better decisions and the outcomes that residents who pay for council services deserve."

Clive calls for a much needed change in culture which is welcome but to be honest this will need Government action since many Councils (not all) dominated by strong Executive models do not believe in Scrutiny and deliberately block it.   While there are many "honest serving" Councillors from all political parties up and down the Country trying to properly scrutinise their Executive this report reflects their frustration. 

I think that there are many lessons to be learnt from this report for my own Council, Newham. However we are not the only one with inadequate scrutiny arrangements. 

Report recommendations 

1.That overview and scrutiny committees should report to an authority’s Full Council meeting rather than to the executive, mirroring the relationship between Select Committees and Parliament. 

Agreed. Reports are sent in Newham Council to the Executive or "via the Executive". 

2.That scrutiny committees and the executive must be distinct and that executive councillors should not participate in scrutiny other than as witnesses, even if external partners are being scrutinised. 

Agreed. In Newham executive members are allowed to vote for Scrutiny Chairs. Also, Executive members take part in Audit Committee and the Investment & Accounts Committee (and even chair both Committees!). 

3.That councillors working on scrutiny committees should have access to financial and performance data held by an authority, and that this access should not be restricted for reasons of commercial sensitivity. 

Agreed. Even Scrutiny Chairs are blocked from receiving "sensitive" financial information (for example, the report on £52 million loss on the London Stadium deal.) The Executive decides if and when information is realised. 

4.That scrutiny committees should be supported by officers that are able to operate with independence and offer impartial advice to committees. There should be a greater parity of esteem between scrutiny and the executive, and committees should have the same access to the expertise and time of senior officers and the chief executive as their cabinet counterparts. 

Agreed. This doesn't happen in Newham and many other Councils. Executive members have refused to attend Scrutiny meetings in the past and requests for Officers to attend have to be made via the Executive. 

5.That members of the public and service users have a fundamental role in the scrutiny process and that their participation should be encouraged and facilitated by councils.

Agreed. Recently the public (and media) were banned from attending (never mind participating) in the Newham Council Fire Safety in Tower Blocks scrutiny. 

6.That overview and scrutiny committees should be given full access to all financial and performance information, and have the right to call witnesses, not just from their local authorities, but from other public bodies and private council contractors. They should be able to follow and investigate the spending of the public pound. 

Agreed. See 3 above. Council special purpose vehicles (Local authority trading companies etc) provide services and control £ billions of assets and need to be fully scrutinised.

7.That the DCLG works with the Local Government Association and the Centre for Public Scrutiny to identify councils to take part in a pilot scheme where the impact of elected chairs on scrutiny’s effectiveness can be monitored and its merits considered. 

Agreed. As long as this doesn't mean things are kicked into long grass. 

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/communities-and-local-government-committee/news-parliament-2017/scrutiny-committee-report-17-19/

I have other concerns as well such as how committee members of Scrutiny are appointed in the first place and scrutiny arrangements being subject to political whips. I will be sending this article and links to the Chair of Newham Overview & Scrutiny and ask to meet the Committee to discuss the report and its recommendations.  

We're urging Theresa May to make homes safe from fire.

A great video and I would encourage everyone to sign the letter to the prime minister to make social housing homes safe but dare I say pretty much all Housing blocks should have this protection as well as all of our schools?

Dear John Thousands of families are living in high-rise properties in the UK, yet only an estimated 2 per cent of blocks have sprinkler systems. The evidence is clear, fitting homes with fire safety systems, like sprinklers, saves people's lives in the event of a fire. So today I am calling on the government to use the Autumn Budget to make homes safe. Will you join me? Theresa May — we urge you to fit all high-rise social housing with life-saving sprinkler systems: Sign our letter Independent research has shown that sprinklers are hugely effective — extinguishing or containing fires in 99 per cent of cases. Sign our letter now to help us make sure that residents of high rise social housing can sleep safe in the knowledge that avoidable disasters will not happen to them. Together we can make homes safe. Jeremy Corbyn Leader of the Labour Party

Resigning from Newham Council Fire Safety Scrutiny in Residential High Rise Tower Blocks

I have just resigned tonight from being a member of Newham Council "Fire Safety Scrutiny in Residential High Rise Tower Blocks" because the evidence meetings are being held in secret. I did try to get this decision changed informally but was not successful.

This secrecy is in my view completely unacceptable after #Grenfell Fire. We need complete openness and transparency to make sure such things never happen again.

As an IOSH practitioner and experienced manager of Tower Blocks I will investigate fire safety on behalf of my constituents and all Newham Residents by making site visits & member enquiries and will publish my inspections, questions and any answers - publicly.

(photo of London Borough of Newham skyline including 2 Tower Blocks in my ward West Ham)