LONDON LETTER:WANDSWORTH COUNCIL in London, with the lowest council tax in the United Kingdom, is often seen as a triumph of Conservative values, but never more so than with its current plans to reform housing rules.
Last night, a council committee signed off on a plan, starting with a pilot programme from next June, that demands new council tenants actively seek work, undergo training or commit to local volunteering. Otherwise they lose their homes.
The document that went to councillors is clear: “Social rented housing is a valuable asset. However, its use is not optimised in meeting local housing needs or in meeting wider social and economic objectives.
“It currently offers lifetime tenancies at heavily subsidised rents that take very little account of how individual and household circumstances change,” said Wandsworth’s director of housing, Roy Evans.
For some, Wandsworth is simply über-Thatcherite; but, in truth, the council appears to be a strange mix. In the 1980s, it was one of the most enthusiastic cheerleaders for Margaret Thatcher’s sell-off of council homes. Under Labour, however, it rebutted attempts to get it to sell off the rest and carried out a major, and it would appear much-lauded, refurbishment of thousands of homes – meeting a Labour-set “decent homes” target three years early.
Its new housing policy has attracted praise and criticism, with the Socialist Worker, for example, charging that “the Tory rhetoric” in vogue since last year’s general election “attacking those on benefits has encouraged councils to go on the offensive”.
Wandsworth, however, is unapologetic: “This isn’t about punishing people who are made redundant or cannot find a job. It is about having a way to penalise those who can’t be bothered to make the effort,” said housing spokesman, Cllr Paul Ellis.
All new applicants will be subject, if the pilot programme is extended as expected, to fixed-term tenancies and face “periodic reviews” to ensure they are searching for work, taking up training or volunteering.
“Tenants who failed over the course of that fixed term to take steps to find work or improve their employment prospects would face the prospect of losing their council home. They would then need to secure their own accommodation,” the council said.
However, Wandsworth intends to go further, by setting aside a guaranteed percentage of available properties for those in low-paid work, rather than simply deciding on the allocation of houses on the basis of needs.
The inspiration for many of the changes comes from Wandsworth’s new Conservative council leader, Cllr Ravi Govindia, who has already argued that council stock should be directed towards the “aspirational”.
Govindia, who took over in May, has suggested helping young locals with the deposit needed for their first home – paid out of council rents and fees received from builders. The money would be paid back when the house is sold. “I want Wandsworth to be a borough synonymous with choice, opportunity and aspiration. I want young people in Wandsworth to have the choice of owning a stake in their home. I want parents to have the choice about which school to send their child.”
Fewer than one-in-three of Wandsworth’s council homes are held by people in work. “Research has shown quite clearly that unless you help people in these circumstances get off of benefits and into work, they run a much greater risk of developing health problems and all the other social problems associated with living in poverty,” said the council.
More people in work on council estates would “act as a beacon” for others, Ellis said: “It is important that our housing estates have a good mix of people from all walks of life and with different socio-economic backgrounds. We want to give people a hand-up – not a hand-out.”
Housing charity Shelter says the move could have disastrous effects, warning that it is “completely counterproductive to take away the security people so desperately need to get back on their feet” by forcing them into the hands of private landlords.
In 2010, Wandsworth had over 6,000 families on its housing list, though this figure had fallen substantially from the 9,500 listed the year before – just 134 families are officially accepted as homeless for the second three months of this year.
Though Wandsworth is not the first to target council homes at those in work, it is clear that others are paying attention to the Conservative council leader.
