City housing
move to get back on top
Things are moving in Britain`s former social housing star local authority, Carlisle.
The city`s return to stardom may not be far off
because two decades on, building council houses is again on its agenda.
Building council houses is now to be considered by the city council following a successful motion by two councillors backed up by 12 colleagues
The motion had echoes of Carlisle`s former star status. There was also similar echoes in supporting speeches by the two councillors - Councillor Lisa Brown and
her Denton Holme colleague Ruth Alcroft.
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| Coun Brown... recalled start of counci housing |
The star status was gained in the the years between the wars when the city, proportionate to its population, had the best
record in Britain for building council
houses.
The two councillors recalled that the year 2019
marks the 100th anniversary of the Addison Act, the act which marked
the creation of council housing.
The act made housing a national responsibility and
local authorities were given the job of developing new housing where it was
needed by working people. But fifty years later things changed dramatically when
tenants were given a right to buy their
homes.
Then came what the two councillors called “present housing systems”. This they
attacked.
In the attack,
the councillors did not specify which “system”
they had in mind. But in Carlisle there is little doubt that the city`s biggest landlord, the Liverpool-
based giant housing association, Riverside, owner of 55.000 homes nationwide
best fits that description
Riverside took over the city`s 7,000 council houses 17 years ago and has been criticised many times since.
This what the two councillors said about “present
housing systems”(or Riverside if you prefer it):
“Present
housing systems respond poorly to life events such as relationship breakdown,
job insecurity and the onset of poor health and caring responsibilities.
“Low
rents, such as council house rents make an important contribution to reducing
the degree of housing cost -induced poverty and material deprivation among
tenants.”
Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation which
publishes this blog joins the two councillors in their crtiticism of “ present
housing systems.”
The Federation has no problem in naming Riverside
as the Carlisle organisation which best fits that description.
The
Federation has also no problem in adding
to the two councillors` criticism .
.
A spokesman said
“The right to buy policy was largely responsible for the present
housing crisis. Right to buy gave us
remote dictatorial and grossly inefficient
organisations like Riverside which is responsible
to no one but itself.
.
“Congratulations to councillors Brown and Alcroft for their campaigning. And congratulations to Carlisle city council in its newly-found
support for council house building and the happy prospect of a new era
of social housing.
“Hopefully
soon, Carlisle will once again be top".
