`ABANDONED ` CARLISLE REJECTS COUNCIL HOUSE BUILDING

 

Star city

fails as new housing surges

The city of Carlisle which once led the country in building  council houses is now falling very much behind as councils elsewhere surge ahead in building these homes.

Hopefully, things are not as bad as they seem and new ways of getting council house building going again in the city are being planned by Labour members of the Tory-controlled council.

COUN. LISA BROWN...spurred on

Leading the way is Denton Holme and Morton South councillor Ruth Alcroft  who is also prospective Labour parliamentary candidate for the city. She is working with her Denton Holme councillor colleague, Lisa Brown.

The two are spurred on by the  increased number of people homeless in the city and by the continued failures and gross inefficiencies of the city`s biggest landlord, Riverside Housing Association which took over the city`s  6,000 council houses 17 years ago.

Recently Riverside closed its Carlisle offices and  was accused of abandoning the city. Not so many years ago, such a situation would have been unthinkable… Carlisle  between the wars led the country in the number of council houses built, proportionate to the population.

Ruth recently tried to get a motion passed by the council calling on the council to start building again.

She told the council:  “Our country desperately needs new council houses to be built in great numbers. Our country needs council houses to be built to better standards so our housing stock will better stand the test of time”

The council rejected the motion after Councillor Liz Mallinson, a senior Tory councillor said she remembered the days of council housing under a Labour government.”The housing stock was sitting empty and in a state of disrepair.”

Despite  such negative and backward-looking views, Ruth is undeterred in her determination and plans further efforts jointly with Lisa.

ESTHER MCVEY.. crack team.

The two councillors are very much aware of the big efforts  in other parts of the country to get councils building again. Councils are set to quadruple their housebuilding over the next five years as they seek to deliver 80,000 homes according to an investigation by the social housing magazine, Inside Housing.

That figure represents a huge surge in the activities of council housing companies and follows a very significant decision a year ago by the then  prime minister Theresa May to abolish the councils` housing revenue account cap which placed a limit on the amount councils were able to borrow to invest in housing.

Today it is revealed that Esther McVey, the housing minister is to send a crack team of specialists – planners, designers and ecologists-across the country to help councils struggling to get regeneration and housing schemes approved.

Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation publishes this blog. Information about the Federation is available on 01228 52227