London borough set to launch new social housing development

 

A council that will be affected greatly by the new Welfare Reform Bill has announced plans to build 2,000 homes in its borough in the coming years to provide good affordable properties for its tenant population.

Government policy would not work

Islington Council were outspoken in their criticism of the Government’s plan to allow housing associations to build and let properties close to the local market rent. They believed that the policy would not work in their corner of London, where the average rent for private residential apartments is close to £1,000 a month. The council were worried that precious building land in such a built up area of the capital developed in the name of social housing would never be tenanted by those in dire need of accommodation, but instead they would be covered with property business insurance and let out to private wealthy tenants.

Massive development will offer affordable rent

Instead the council have put together a 54 point plan for the borough which they suggest will make Islington a better and fairer place to live. At the helm of the plan will be a development of almost 2,000 homes which will be covered by landlord insurance and built for the needy people of the area. Importantly the council say the homes will be let at affordable rates. The council are launching the initiative in a bid to narrow the gap between rich and poor in the borough and although they won’t be building the homes directly they will have a big input in the planning and implementation of the homes.

Many social elements to the grand plan

The plan is not without controversy. The council say they want to persuade people living in under-occupied homes to move to homes more suitable, freeing up big homes to be occupied by big families. They propose to pay all council employees a minimum of £8.30 an hour (the London Living Wage) and ensure that all contractors of council work do the same. The plan is to ensure that no council employee earns more than ten times more than another.

The council will encourage good neighbour schemes and provide a phone line for tenants to report anti-social behaviour. The social housing scheme introduced by a socialist council will operate in the heart of capitalism; it will be an interesting venture.