Labour Housing Group Newsletter - November 2020

SOCIALIST HOUSING POLICIES FOR A RECOVERING BRITAIN Making a reality of a decent home for all When it looked as if would be no Annual Labour Party Conference in 2020, LHG agreed with Thangam Debbonaire that we would hold a small conference just about housing. We knew there would be a lot of interest – at Annual Conference in 2019, there were more fringe meetings and resolutions about housing and homelessness than even the NHS. Our two key themes were how to win the next General Election through progressive housing policies and how to help the recovery from Covid-19. Our keynote speakers were Thangam Debbonaire, Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, who focused on the failings of the Tory Government on housing before and during the current crisis and housing policies to address climate change. Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds IN THIS ISSUE was interviewed by long-time LHG Page 2: Conference overview member Steve Hilditch. Pages 3-7: Reports from conference workshops Page 8: Tackling rogue landlords in Newham Page 9: Shocking Shetland fires - no more Grenfells? Page 10: Modern almshouses Thangam Anneliese Page 11: RedBrick anniversary Debbonaire Dodds 1 CONFERENCE OVERVIEW

Leonie Cooper (LAM & SERA), Julia Park (housing researcher), Jane Cllr Danny Beales (Camden), Sarah Briginshaw (architect) Sackman (barrister), Duncan Joanne Darbyshire (National Bowie, University of Westminster Leasehold Campaign), Mick Johnston A B H

The 8 workshops covered topics across the housing spectrum and heard from speakers from local authorities, Socialist Societies, and community groups, as well as from MPs and academics. We sought to make the private rented sector fit for purpose and how to improve quality, design, and sustainability, benefiting both tenants and owners. We also focused on G C the experience of black and ethnic minority residents and housing workers, both critically affected under Covid-19. Other workshops explored planning issues, how to make our housing policies suitable for all types of areas, funding issues, and the legacy of Grenfell. Jacky Peacock Clive Betts MP, (Advice4Renters), The Building Council Homes workshop heard James Aileen Evans, Liz Davies (Society Murray, MP announce that he will be leading a joint (SHOUT), Emma of Labour project with LHG to explore how building council Skinner, (Labour Lawyers) housing can once again become a reality across a wide Campaign for Council Housing), range of local authority areas, with the aim of reporting James Murray MP to next year’s Annual Conference. Watch this space for coverage of its findings and how you D F can contribute.

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Cllr (Hackney), Cllr Mike Amesbury Abena Amina Ali (Tower Hamlets), Oppong-Asare (MPs) Anndeloris Chacon (Bristol Black Dr Janice Morphet, University College, Carers) , Cllr Johnson Situ (Southwark) 2 LHG HOUSING CONFERENCE 3rd OCTOBER 2020 REPORT Workshop A. Building a better future - Design, � Daylight, accessibility and access to open space quality, sustainability are all important - good design should include dual aspect windows, balconies, utility space, Chair: Ross Houston space for desks in bedrooms and sound (SERA and proofing Member): Immediate actions should be: Labour members can make a difference even in opposition � ensure that every home has 2 living spaces (i.e. separate kitchen and living room) � There is widespread opposition to Robert Jenrick’s plans, including from Tories � ban studios � The last manifesto section on � make use of roofspace cleaner greener London: creating world-class � create purpose-built HMOs with decent-sized public spaces, cleaning up the air and protecting rooms the environment - including solar panels on Key points rooftops, creating energy networks and Political leadership and top-to-bottom encouraging biodiversity conversations are vital � Labour members can influence Local Plans and Homes that are not zero carbon should no push for high quality sustainable housing longer be being built � Neighbourhood planning systems enable Daylight, accessibility and access to open residents to get formally involved in the planning space are more important since Covid-19 process We must work with developers to help them Jane Briginshaw (Design England): sell ‘green’ as a product � Design is not just ‘nice to have’; it is a proxy for talking about people Workshop B. Widening our perspective – � One example is Low Traffic Neighbourhoods - different tenures, different places we need to overcome people’s resistance to reducing car use by painting a picture of a better Chair: Ed Derrick future, and resisting parking outside new homes Joanne Darbyshire (National Leasehold Campaign): � New towns provide the opportunity to explain � Number of possible ‘holds’ – freehold, share what could be when it comes to green transport freehold, Leasehold, Shared Ownership, and healthy living (e.g. Ebbsfleet Garden City) Commonhold � We must work with developers to help them sell � Shared Ownership is not true ownership and is ‘green’ as a product misleading � This all needs political leadership and top-to- � Ground rent is unnecessary, and service charges bottom conversations that include local are uncontrolled and unpredictable communities � Other countries with blocks of flats and shared Julia Park (housing researcher): facilities have shown that leasehold is not � The highest priority is an affordable home for necessary, and it has been abolished in Scotland everyone but we need high quality as well � Commonhold is the best option for replacing � People’s homes are even more important since leasehold, but has failed to take hold because Covid-19 - they need to be flexible, adaptable, lenders don’t understand it, and there is no suitable for any tenure and for working from support from the state home, and last for 200 years � Commonhold would allow residents to employ � Homes that are not zero carbon should no their own management company longer be being built � There should be a ban on all new-build � Dense, high-rise housing also causes problems leaseholds, with affordable solutions with for tackling climate change current leaseholders, a Right to Manage, support

3 LHG HOUSING CONFERENCE 3rd OCTOBER 2020 REPORT for those with flammable cladding, and � Build on green belt – there is space for 4m commonhold as the default tender houses on green belt inside M25 area alone Mick Johnston (Retired public sector worker, rural � Homes suitable for working from home housing expert) � Homes need to be cool in summer and warm in � Rural communities have been written off by the winter Labour Party for too long Emma Skinner (Labour Campaign for Council � Issues include serious deprivation and lack of Housing) access to affordable housing � 8,000 council homes lost in London alone due to � Section 106 has failed as a mechanism for regeneration projects - 1m council homes providing affordable housing, especially in rural shortage areas � Housing policy classism, barrier to council � Local authorities don’t want to resource rural housing housing enablers � Cancel Public Works Lending Board debt - £4.5 � Many local authorities have long ago contracted billion yearly out their housing � We need to speculate to accumulate with � Private rental sector very small in rural areas council house building � Options for other tenures are not there James Murray, MP Key points: � There is a clear case for council housing There should be a ban on all new-build � We are currently achieving the highest number leaseholds, with commonhold introduced in 30 years, but this is only 10% of the numbers instead in the heyday of council house-building All existing leaseholders should be offered � LHG will lead a project on how to get back to other solutions including support to tackle building the council housing we need: “Council flammable cladding Homebuilding for the 21st Century” � Rural housing issues must be moved up the Key points agenda within the Labour Party – we cannot try to have one size fitting all Kids’ life chances are being ruined by housing issues The abolition of the Right To Buy is an Workshop C. Building council housing once more essential element in this, whether total or Chair: John Cotton only in high demand areas Clive Betts MP (Chair of Communities & Local Land issues are key: affordable land for Government Select Committee): affordable housing campaign � Government talks about affordable homes that � We need a major public house building aren’t really affordable – instead we need to talk campaign and to speculate to accumulate about genuinely affordable public homes

� To deliver 300k new homes target, at least 150k Workshop D. Learning from Grenfell need to be public homes Chair: Sheila Spencer � This will require expansion of modular and Mike Amesbury MP and Abena Oppong-Asare MP other modern construction methods, with clear � Now over 3 years since Grenfell and things are quality standards to avoid the mistakes of the moving at a snail’s pace, still 300 tower blocks post war period with ACM cladding � Councils should be able to suspend Right To Buy � Constant change of housing ministers is in areas of high housing demand hindering progress Aileen Evans (SHOUT Campaign for Social � The stigma around social housing has still not Housing): been removed, as was promised immediately in � Reform land value capture the aftermath of Grenfell 4 LHG HOUSING CONFERENCE 3rd OCTOBER 2020 REPORT � Still opportunities for sub-standard works to � The cost of Housing Benefit has doubled, occur unless they are dealt with fully in new making big savings possible building regulation proposals � In order to win the argument the political � Leasehold costs issue with many differing argument, this needs combined work by think- parties involved and in conflict - mortgage issues tanks, housing associations and others as well arising with leaseholders unable to sell as local authorities � The case should be made for growth post- � Suggested a round table to sit down with all Covid19 parties to resolve all these issues – need out-of- � We need to talk about people’s stories and offer the-box thinking tangible benefits � More transparency needed to build the trust of Janice Morphet (University College, London): tenants - at Grenfell, tenants had lost trust and � Councils are still providing social housing using were going elsewhere for advice their own resources � Grenfell tenants all now rehoused and had a � International financial reporting standards allow much better offer, given more choice than those loans on councils’ whole asset bases but this who are offered housing from the normal has not been implemented in the UK (the waiting list / allocation process - this is how a Housing Revenue Account system, unique to the proper and normal housing service waiting list / UK, gets in the way of this) allocation should operate. � Despite antipathy to ‘executive homes’, some areas do still need larger houses Key points: � Some councils are currently buying land for use 3 years on there are still 300 blocks with in 20 to 30 years’ time and putting clawback into dangerous cladding planning agreements Sub-standard work is still possible - the � There is a need to replace the European building regulations review has not removed Investment Bank - this funded Glasgow’s this possibility developments The stigma around social housing has still not � The main issues are lack of skills and the will to been removed make things happen We suggest a round table to sit down with all � Local Authorities often fail to work with Housing parties to resolve all these issues, with out- Associations and some are now setting up their of-the-box thinking own Housing Associations � More transparency is needed to build the Key Points: trust of tenants Housing policy needs a better link to the Treasury Workshop E. Funding the social homes we need Investment in welfare should be viewed as Chair: Rachel Blake growth Johnson Situ (Southwark Councillor and Cabinet Large-scale building programmes can only be lead for Housing): built with grant � In 1980, 94,000 homes were built, now 6,000 Houses can be built more cheaply and homes a year mostly by local authorities and flexibly using modern construction methods housing associations � The Tories have allowed an increase in local The country’s housing asset base needs to be authority building and Section 106 has used to fund new homes contributed about £4 billion to social housing � The HRA system needs to be reviewed, as � Greater London Authority has a housing target promised by Labour in the past for 325,000 over 10 years - 70% of these would be social housing costing £74.5 million. £4.9 billion a year is needed, but the GLA has only Workshop F: Housing and BAME communities: one seventh of that amount how racial disparities and inequalities in Conclusions housing provision have impacted on BAME � It is important to link the economic case to the communities social one Chair: Amanda Pinnock 5 LHG HOUSING CONFERENCE 3rd OCTOBER 2020 REPORT Cllr Sem Moema (Hackney): whilst online and self-help services do not take ● The BAME community has been account of digital exclusion and technophobia disproportionately affected by Covid19 Key points: ● Poor and inadequate housing has a significant � We need more joined-up and integrated working role to play – in Hackney, overcrowding is at local and national level, and more resource to suffered by 1 in 3 households of some ethnic specifically tackle issues affecting BAME groups (Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Black communities African) compared to 1 in 20 white households; nationally 15.7% of black households are � The term BAME is often very unhelpful because overcrowded compared to 3.4 % of all it suggests that all sizes fit all households � We need a manifesto that meets the needs of all ● Nationally 17% of white people live in poverty, � More events like the LHG conference are compared with 39.9% black people needed to highlight key issues and give a ● Former housing Associations specifically set up platform for important discussions for BAME communities are now absorbed into larger structures Workshop G. Making the private rented sector ● Policy is needed to help improve life changes to fit for purpose address inequalities Chair: Janet Berry Cllr Amina Ali (Tower Hamlets): � We must address gentrification, and how these Liz Davies (Society of Labour Lawyers): structures serious impact the majority of the � The moratorium on possession proceedings in th black communities in London and the south – it the PRS was extended to 20 September, pushes up the cost of housing, and leaving run existing claims can now be reactivated and new down social housing surrounded by shiny claims can be lodged but are being processed buildings very slowly. � This creates a loss of identity and the feeling of � Most evictions will not take place until March as belonging, and it is difficult to find green spaces. under the new rules landlords must give 6 BAME communities seldom benefit from these months’ notice, and there will be a winter truce changes. with no evictions in December and January - a “tsunami” of court cases may happen next � Local authority planning policy should ensure summer that property developers and contractors factor BAME communities into their development � Housing standards are worse in the private plans which is beneficial for all, irrespective of sector – councils can enforce but have backgrounds experienced severe funding cuts � We need more initiatives to allow for BAME � The government has postponed its plans to communities to benefit from developments in abolish Section 21 notices and introduce a the area, with long term gains e.g. opportunities Renters Bill for young people in training and � Section 8 rent arrears as a reason for eviction apprenticeships and creating a sense of should be made discretionary not mandatory to belonging and ownership. allow the courts to consider the reasons and Anndeloris Chacon (Bristol Black Carers): propose a payment plan � Local Housing Allowance needs to be made � Social institutes can work in silos which realistic and brought back to 50% of median negatively impacts BAME communities the market rents, and the benefit cap and Bedroom most, in relation to housing, health and Tax should be scrapped. education � Landlords discriminating against benefit � The lack of joined-up approach means people claimants are being threatened with legal action fall through the cracks – some services such as open housing departments have been removed, Jacky Peacock (Advice4Renters):

6 LHG HOUSING CONFERENCE 3rd OCTOBER 2020 REPORT � More people are renting privately due to a lack of effective consultation and it is not a positive vision council housing in any sense � Councils should pull together a council-wide private Cllr Danny Beales (LB Camden): renters’ strategy, involving environmental health, � Permitted Development (PD) proposals are likely licensing, planning and advice services to have dire consequences on our available housing stock - research shows that the changes � Councils should define broad objectives for will lead to the delivery of small unsuitable intervention in the PRS e.g. improving conditions, housing, effectively a ‘modern slum’ driving out the worst landlords, providing decent � In Camden, the proposed ‘First Homes’ will be well homes for low income residents beyond the reach of low income families, and � Councils should audit the interventions they use significantly reducing the pot for truly affordable and what other regulatory powers they have - there homes are lots of underused powers and duties � Current CIL and S.106 payments gives us far greater flexibility than these proposals � In-house advice services should also be supported � Zoning proposals offer the worst of all worlds: � Urgent action also needs to be taken now on the o Growth areas are likely to become a ‘wild west’ health risks of cold homes of unplanned development Key points: o Protected/Conservation areas could stop delivery of all new housing The most vulnerable are being forced to live in o Renewal areas could seriously damage the most unregulated end of the PRS relationships with local communities. We need a comprehensive PRS strategy in Duncan Bowie (University of Westminster): each area to drive up improvements in � Planning should be about serving the public conditions and management interest, with a national social plan identifying PRS properties need to be genuinely areas for residential growth - it should not be left affordable and this means no benefit caps and to developers who will seek to build where most no Bedroom Tax profit is available � Any plan should assure provision of suitable � Need to promote the fact that housing accommodation, both quantity and quality benefit discrimination against tenants � There should be national minimum standards and receiving housing benefit is unlawful. proper enforcement � Applications with less than 70% affordable housing Workshop H. How can we deliver the affordable should be refused; we should push for a better housing we need in the face of the Planning White definition of affordable of no more than 30% of Paper? mean household income � Land ownership is a major issue with land banking Chair: Chris Worrall raising land values to a point where affordable Sarah Sackman (Barrister): housing seems to be unviable � There is disquiet across the country, not just in Key points: cities It is essential that we articulate an alternative � There would be a reliance on development plans vision for planning, focusing on affordable shaping outcomes and providing the only access homes and revitalising high streets, especially to consultation - it would mean an automatic in the light of Covid-19 and climate crisis permission for development in anything other We need to push for more power to local than ‘protected’ zones based on centralised authorities to deliver the development we formulas need, trust the planners, and identify those � It is based on the false premise that planning who want to block essential reform processes are to blame for delays – but over 1m The real solutions to affordable housing homes already have permission but are not built; development are local authority direct this allows developers to control prices by land delivery, and increasing supply and speed of banking and keeping house supplies low delivery through use of offsite construction � There is nothing in the proposals about the green systems belt, resources for housing construction or It is important to hear all voices and get those not normally heard involved in the campaign 7 ROGUE LANDLORDS HOW TO PROTECT TENANTS AND RAISE STANDARDS Newham has one of the most extensive, far) to get Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs longest running and most effective landlord to tackle tax evasion by landlords. licensing schemes in the country. It was set up We also want to work with renters’ unions and in 2013 and renewed for another 5 years in other campaigning groups. We are helping 2018. tenants who have been illegally evicted or lived At one stage Newham was prosecuting more in unlicensed properties to claim back their rent criminal landlords that the rest of the country put from these landlords. together. Despite this, every day our � We call on the government to do what they have enforcement teams have to tackle serious promised and abolish so called “no fault” disrepair, anti-social behaviour, illegal evictions evictions, whereby tenants can be legally thrown and harassment of tenants. Since February out even if they pay the rent and look after the 2018 we have fined 247 landlords and property. Some landlords use this power to prosecuted 38. frighten tenants from reporting repair issues or harassment. We regulate 17,000 landlords who between them hold 40,000 licences. Nearly 50% of our � We also need compulsory national landlord registration, a requirement to have written entire housing stock is privately rented, 20% of tenancy agreements and an increase in criminal which have repair hazards. sanctions, fines and effective powers to The vast majority of landlords are not “rogues” compulsory purchase the very worse properties. and want to do the right thing for their tenants � We demand an end to the inexplicable anomaly but there is an issue that 13,000 landlords only that allows landlords who rent their homes to own a single property. I have worked for local authorities and the Government for Councils and Housing associations for nearly all temporary accommodation to be exempt from my professional life and know how hard it is to licensing. Well done to our East End neighbours, manage properties even when you have a big Waltham Forest, for their legal challenge on this. organisation behind you. � My final licensing demand would be for Councils to be able once again to regulate rents. Between So education and support for landlords is a 2011 and 2018, rents in Newham increased by must. We have established forums for landlords 56% but salaries have only risen by 21%. and intend to resume holding quarterly A reasonable 2-bed flat in my ward can cost meetings (virtually) and workshops. Since Covid £1500 per month. 49% of all families in Newham we have been sending out e-newsletters to live in poverty after their housing costs are taken landlords offering advice and reminders of their into account. A staggering 66% of our children live responsibilities. in poverty for the same reason. We think we can make a difference by We have powers to tackle rogue landlords but encouraging landlords to become more not rogue rents. Why not? professional, but we will not hesitate to prosecute the true rogues. We are doubling John Gray is Cabinet Member for Housing services the size of our enforcement team and working in the London Borough of Newham. He is a with Planning to shut down unlawful HMOs. member of LHG London’s Executive Committee and a member of UNISON’s National Executive We are also working with Council Tax fraud Committee for Housing Associations and the investigators and trying (not that successfully so Voluntary sector. 8 NO MORE GRENFELLS? In July 2020, the 106-bed Moorfield Hotel in Brae, In March 2020, Shetland News reported that the Shetland burned down dramatically. Fortunately, Shetland Islands Council had embarked upon a the small band of guests and staff escaped safely major recruitment drive. with only possessions lost. Head of Planning Iain McDiarmid said the service The loss to the island’s economy was considerable employed about 30 people locally and a 25 per but not unanticipated, since the Total oil company cent shortage of staff was significant. “If you are had already announced it would no longer use looking for example at the development plans team, the hotel. we are 50 per cent short of officers there, and we are a couple of posts For around 40 minutes the short at development management guests, who had heeded the – so it has a significant impact on alarm, suspected it was a false what we can do and how we do one as there were no obvious things,” he said. signs of fire. McDiarmid said Shetland wasn’t Then fire quickly engulfed the the only local authority in entire roof and fire-fighters were Scotland that was struggling to powerless to stop it, despite keep its planning service going as having called out reinforcements. “There are fewer people-to-job as a This was not the only such whole,the planning schools are only incident in Shetland in recent turning out 30 trained planners times. In April 2019, the bird every year, and if you consider that observatory on neighbouring Fair there are 30 odd local authorities Isle had also burned down quickly and looking for planners, and the whole private sector, completely. then you have a shortage of people in planning and What the two buildings had in common was building standards”. modern methods of construction (MMC). LESSONS TO BE LEARNED Moorfield Hotel was built in 2013 from materials produced in a factory in Northern Ireland using ● Novel fire risks need to be “designed-out”. combustible polyurethane insulation held ● Additional regulations and building control between two sheets of oriented strand board, a may be required for these structures. product made from compressed wood flakes. ● Quality standards must be checked and A fire engineer said of the incident “No building maintained on-site as well as in the factory. should be able to burn to the extent that there is ● Fire crews may need specialised training and nothing left of it, and the level of destruction in this equipment to handle such fires. case is indicative of how combustible the [materials] Paul Martin were”. Acknowledgements Shetland’s remoteness and transport that is often Peter Apps’ excellent and more extensive article in disrupted by bad weather has made MMC Inside Housing’s October edition inspired this one. increasingly popular. Shetland News: It may also be the case that projects have https://www.shetnews.co.uk/2020/03/10/efforts- received less than full scrutiny by the ongoing-to-recruit-planning-staff-as-workload- authorities. continues-to-grow/ 9 THE MODERN DAY ALMSHOUSE Case Study: Worcester Municipal Charities

A lot of water has flowed under the Severn Bridge funds, a lengthy and expensive process which since the first Worcester Municipal Charities took three years to achieve. almshouses were founded with a large gift in This process may be too great an obstacle for 1618. other almshouse charities smaller than The charity has remained at the heart of the Worcester. Many are unable to expand their Worcester community, with the current Board of services because they cannot access the needed Trustees providing stable, adaptive leadership funding from Homes England. since 1985, under Chairman Paul Griffith MBE. The Almshouse Association believes that more The Trustees made the decision to update needs to be done to provide funding to the residency criteria of the charity for the charities which do not wish to go through 21st Century as the younger homeless in the arduous process of becoming a Worcester were dominating the queues RPSH. for re-housing. Almshouse Association members have In the last 6 years the Charity has found Section 106 agreements created 39 new dwellings, mainly from problematic. In this case, Worcester City refurbished offices and empty spaces, with Council insisted on the Charity meeting help from Home England. the Council’s own legal fees for its latest development of 25 flats. Worcester Municipal not only helps to tackle homelessness and housing affordability in the We believe that it is illogical for councils to charge area, but its services are uniquely integrated a charitable organisation for carrying out their within the wider community. duty of providing affordable housing. For example, they fund and provide rent-free At a time when local councils are stretched the office space for the local Citizen’s Advice service. Almshouse Association believes we should look to This partnership with Citizens Advice’s “SmartLets” expand this uniquely integrated service across the project means that not only is the Charity housing country. those in need, it is also helping to provide access With the removal of unnecessary barriers, and to services that can help these individuals move given adequate resources, Almshouse on and up the housing ladder, towards long-term charities can provide good quality homes with security. wrap-around services that can support The Charity has reacted quickly to changing different age groups. events, replacing less profitable investments with Jack Baldan /www.wmcharities.org.uk/index.html new ones in retail and office space. Their latest project is to turn a redundant Probation office £ APPEAL £ APPEAL £ APPEAL £ APPEAL £ into 25 flats for the homeless, taking their total to If you cannot spare time and energy, you can still 96 units by 2021. donate to “Labour Housing Group” as follows: This progress has required considerable effort Bank transfer to account number 50478080, sort code and expense, which has been made possible by 08-90-06, Co-operative Bank, PO Box 1AN, Blandford grants from Homes England. Street, Newcastle, NE99 1AN. However the Charity had to become a Registered By cheque made payable to “Labour Housing Group” c/o The Treasurer, Flat 2, 8 Torrington Park, London Provider of Social Housing (RPSH) to access these N12 9SS PLEASE QUOTE “LHG2020 CAMPAIGN” 10 RED BRICK - TEN YEARS CELEBRATED Red Brick blog was launched ten years ago, after progressive view to contribute in a non-sectarian Gordon Brown’s defeat, to provide a platform to way. debate the Coalition’s policies and to develop Please read it, write for it, Facebook and retweet it housing policies in preparation for a Labour to help Labour build a comprehensive housing government. policy which will command public support. Sadly, we’re still suffering under the Tories ten Steve Hilditch years, 800 blog posts, around 800,000 words later. THE RETURN OF This anthology of around 100 SQUALOR is an anthology posts tracks the Tory policies as drawn from the RED they got more and more BRICK housing blog. It disastrous. contains posts published The title refers to one of during 2010-2020, Beveridge’s five great evils - highlighting issues such squalor – because so many of the as homelessness, the lack posts talk about the growth in of affordable housing, the homelessness, the explosion in temporary economics of housing accommodation, declining standards in parts of investment, regeneration, the private rented sector, and the emergence of a renting across all tenures, new crisis of unsafe housing. the failure of the benefits system, and the stigma faced by social tenants. Unaffordable housing costs, outstripping wages, have created a tension for millions of people It is available from between being able to pay the rent, keeping their https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08 home warm, and feeding themselves and their M2FY1Q7/ children. The book is available in both paperback and Of course there are solutions, just not under kindle versions. Royalties, around £2.50 per this government. copy, will go to LHG to help keep housing at the centre of Labour’s campaigning. The blog has made the case for huge investment in new social housing, and especially council You can read Duncan Bowie’s review of the housing, at genuinely affordable rents, for anthology at Red Brick - regulation in private renting, and for help for https://redbrickblog.co.uk/2020/10/the- home owners feeling the strain due to the feudal return-of-squalor/ leasehold system. Duncan says: It has defended the homelessness safety net and called for the enforcement of decent standards in “The archive could be called contemporary history. all tenures. It is a reminder of the struggles of the last decade, and how appalling the last 10 years of housing Following my ‘retirement’ this year, having edited policy have been but also, even more regrettably, the blog through its first ten years, Red Brick was of how little attention successive governments relaunched as a service offered by Labour have paid to the arguments put forward in Red Housing Group under the editorship of Chris Brick and by other progressives”. Worrall. It will be open to anyone with a

11 THE LABOUR HOUSING GROUP TEAM LHG EXECUTIVE 2020 LHG's Executive was elected at the AGM 21st March for the two years to 2022.

Executive member Constituency/role

Andy Bates (co-opted) Speakers’ organiser

Janet Berry Membership Officer (Winchester CLP)

John Bevan Vice-chair (Tottenham CLP)

Rachel Blake Branches liaison (Bethnal Green & Bow CLP)

Nick Bragger (co-opted) Fundraising (Guildford CLP)

John Cotton Chair (Birmingham Perry Barr CLP)

Ed Derrick Website link (Newcastle Central CLP)

Gerard Heffey (co-opted) (West Derby CLP)

Ross Houston Treasurer (Finchley & Golders Green CLP)

Heather Johnson Vice-chair & Events Organiser (Hampstead & Kilburn CLP)

Paul Martin Newsletter Editor and Policy Officer (Poplar & Limehouse CLP)

Amanda Pinnock Social media - (Huddersfield CLP)

Sheila Spencer Secretary (North Tyneside CLP)

Christopher Worrall (co-opted) Blog lead (Poplar & Limehouse CLP)

WHAT IS THE LABOUR For readers new to housing policy issues, Labour Housing HOUSING GROUP? Group publishes a series of short guides aimed at a wide The Labour Housing Group is a readership. lobbying group that is affiliated to Our six published Briefings on current topics include the Labour Party and dedicated Homelessness, Rough Sleeping, Affordable Housing, Private to the development of a socialist Renting Sector, Rural Housing and Leasehold Reform. They can housing policy. be found at: https://labourhousing.org/resources/l You can contact us at hg-briefings/ BRIEFINGS http://labourhousing.org/contact AFFORDABLE HOUSING LHG RURAL HOUSING Forthcoming issues will cover, Right LHGBriefingBriefingLHG LHGBriefing Briefing and join us at PRIVATE RENTINGBriefing to Buy, Sustainable Homes and LHG https://labourhousing.org/memb Council Homes. ROUGH SLEEPING HOMELESSNESS ership/ If you would like to contribute, Individuals must be members of please email our Policy Officer, the Labour Party and agree to be Paul Martin at bound by Labour Party rules and [email protected]. the LHG constitution

Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of the Labour Housing Group.

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