Notices of Motion 9 Motion 1. SQUATTED AND EMPTY HOMES IN THE BOROUGH Councillor Jeremy Clyne (14.06.06) Council notes the considerable pressures on housing in Lambeth: - • The need in Lambeth to provide decent homes to the borough's tenants, whether in the public or private sector; • The demand for rented social housing in the borough; • The blight inflicted on some parts of the borough by long term squatted and empty homes which often result in crime and a nuisance to neighbours Council further notes the immediate decision by Cllr Kazantzis on becoming Cabinet Member for Housing to order a halt to the sale of derelict street properties. Council condemns this decision as reckless and imprudent. Amendment 1 Councillor John Kazantzis Delete from "Council further notes" Add: “Council notes that when he came to office in 2002, the very first action of the previous Executive Member for Housing, Councillor Keith Fitchett was to authorise the sell-off of family sized street properties despite the desperate shortage of such homes. A former Councillor then promptly went to an auction and bid for one of those very same properties as an investment for himself. Council notes that the very first decision taken by the Labour Administration regarding the Housing Department was to end the Liberal Democrat sell-off of these street properties, which are so badly needed to provide homes to families in over-crowded accommodation. Council further notes that the abject failure of the Liberal Democrat/Conservative coalition to manage the Housing Department properly left a £5.35m overspend in the Housing budget. The Labour Administration will now take decisive action to deal with the dire financial situation left behind by incompetent Tory-Liberal councillors. Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 63 Council shares the anger of tenants and leaseholders who now know that the disastrous Lib Dem and Tory "reframing" programme not only failed to produce £6.3 million of the much-trumpeted savings but in many areas actually led to an increase in costs despite cutting back services. It takes a particular excess of incompetence to cut services in such a way that they end up costing the Council more - but this is what the failed Tory-Liberal coalition achieved. Council further notes that under the previous administration the Housing Department was defrauded of £3 million and was subsequently found to be almost completely devoid of even the most basic financial control systems. The Tory-Liberal response to this was to do nothing for 9 months after it first happened and then to over-react to such an extent that they caused meltdown in an already weakened management team. Ultimately, they left Lambeth Housing bereft of management leadership and, after the disgraced former Executive Member was forced out, without any political leadership either. Not only will the new Administration sort out the Lib Dem legacy of chaos in Housing, it will also act quickly to bring in extra investment to ensure that Lambeth meets its "Decent Homes" target by 2010. The new Administration will be able to do this because, unlike petty- minded Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, it is prepared to engage with the Government for the benefit of tenants and leaseholders. Council notes that a combination of anger at the incompetence of the Liberal Democrat and Conservative mismanagement of the Housing Department and faith in the ability of a Labour Council to sort it out, contributed significantly to the Labour victory in the local elections. Council notes that the contrast between the first actions of the respective Administrations on housing suggest that the tenants and leaseholders of Lambeth have sound political judgement. Labour now has a mandate to put Lambeth Housing back on track.” Amendment 2 Councillor Ashley Lumsden Add at the end: - “Council condemns this decision as it marks a return to the bad finances and poor sense that categorised the last Labour administration Cllr Kazantzis had a role in. Council recalls only too well the press headlines under the 1998 to 2002 Labour Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 64 administration as street properties worth hundreds of thousands of pounds were lost to the Council. Labour not only failed to use the homes to house the homeless they also lost the capital that could have been invested in bringing other homes up to standard (£400,000 in one infamous case). Labour’s only response then was to campaign for a change in the law, rather than taking action to evict the squatters. Lambeth tenants and leaseholders now face a return to the failed policies of the past, where squatters could jump the housing queue and acquire council homes from the Council for free, paying no rent or service charges to do so. Stopping the sale of derelict street properties will fail to provide the further homes that Cllr Kazantzis believes it will, while also signalling that Lambeth will be leaving street properties vacant and unoccupied for considerable periods of time. The new policy has already encouraged squatters to occupy Council properties, with a property in Streatham Hill having already been taken over. “ Amendment 3 Councillor Irene Kimm Add at the end: “Council congratulates the Empty and Derelict Homes Unit in the Housing Directorate for its diligent and painstaking work during the past four years in tracing owners of vacant property and in using a range of measures including compulsory orders to bring some 180 plus empty and derelict homes back into use. Council expresses the hope that the new administration will continue and strengthen the work of this valuable team of officers.” Amendment 4 Councillor Brian Palmer Add at the end: - “Not only is the new Labour administration returning Lambeth to a borough where squatting went unpunished and Lambeth’s tenants paid the cost, but is also returning Lambeth to a culture the I&DeA criticised in December 2000 of over promising and under delivering. Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 65 Having boldly made a public statement, which is still posted on the Lambeth Labour website, that “In his first act as Lambeth’s new Housing chief John Kazantzis has ended the sell-off of council owned street properties….” Council notes that on Monday 12th June 2006 there was an auction at which Lambeth Council properties were sold, with a five-room semi-detached house being put up for sale by the Council. Council regrets that in their four years in opposition Labour failed to learn that running Lambeth requires more than issuing a press release and relying on spin to carry out a decision.” Amendment 5 Councillor Robert Banks Add at end: - Not only has the new Labour administration been unable to carry out this decision but they will also be throwing away much needed capital resources. Not only will there be the money expended on slowly doing up a small number of derelict properties which have been left empty for years, but the Council will have to do without a valuable capital receipt. Between 2002 and 2006 disposal of derelict street properties which would have cost considerable amounts to repair raised millions of pounds. This has already been invested in repairs and improvements in other Council properties, money which would not have been available if the properties were left empty or allowed to be squatted. Amendment 6 Councillor Julian Heather Add at end: - Council further condemns Cllr Kazantzis for sending out a message to private sector landlords that leaving properties empty is acceptable. Council notes the success of the last administration in introducing a compulsory purchase process which has led to numerous properties being brought back into use. His decision makes it more difficult for the Council to criticise private landlords for allowing properties to be left empty and become a nuisance and a blight on the local neighbourhood when the Council is doing just that. His mistaken and misconceived change of policy will damage efforts to increase the supply of accommodation in the borough, while simultaneously reducing the supply of funding for repairing and improving the homes of council tenants. Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 66 Motion 2 FLOODING INTO BLENHEIM GARDENS Councillor Steve Reed (13.06.06) For many years, water has been flooding out of the Thames Water Site into the garage area of the Blenheim Gardens Estate. This causes considerable damage and nuisance, but the previous Tory- Liberal administration refused even to speak to Thames Water to try and find a solution. Council calls on the Acting Executive Director of Housing to instigate discussions with Thames Water with a view to finding a solution to the problem of flooding into the estate, and to involve the RMO Estate Manager in the discussions. Amendment 1 Councillor Gavin Dodsworth In the second sentence delete the words from ", but the…." To the end of the sentence. Amendment 2 Councillor Irene Kimm Delete the second sentence beginning with “This causes considerable damage and nuisance…” Motion 3 VALERIE SHAWCROSS, GLA MEMBER Councillor Steve Reed (13.06.06) Council notes with appreciation the hard work carried out on behalf of Lambeth's residents by our excellent GLA Member, Valerie Shawcross. Council is keen to build much stronger relationships with the GLA and to play its full role as part of the family of London Government, bringing to an end four years of self-imposed isolation and political posturing by the defeated Tory-Lib Dem administration that hurt the interests of Lambeth's residents. As part of that improved relationship, Council will work in close cooperation with Lambeth's GLA member and, to that end, instructs officers to liaise with Ms Shawcross's office to ensure that she is formally invited to future council meetings and other occasions when issues relevant to her role are likely to arise.