Reading Liberal Democrats

Over 2 million social tenants have missed out on the Government’s pledge to halve the increase in council rent this year, figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

People who live in housing association homes have been excluded from the Government’s promise, despite the fact that they make up half of all social tenants and already pay on average 13% higher rents than council tenants.

The average rent for a housing association property averages around £80 per week in the South East. In Reading housing associations control over 4,000 homes compared to just over 7,000 controlled by the local authority.

Commenting, Lib Dem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Reading East Cllr Gareth Epps said:

“Millions of social tenants have been abandoned by this Government.

“Families and individuals across Reading are struggling to pay their bills and this inflation-busting rent hike could be the last straw for many.

Cllr Daisy Benson, Lib Dem housing spokesperson on Reading Borough Council added:

“There is no reason why housing association tenants are able to afford this rise any more than council tenants.

“It’s simply yet another case of the Government’s eagerness to grab headlines instead of helping millions of families.

Reading’s Labour administration sought all party support at a Council meeting on Tuesday 31 March for a reduction in Council house rent following the Labour government’s u-turn on guideline rents for 2009-10.

Margaret Beckett, Minister for Housing and Planning recently proposed that all councils reduce their council house rents for 2009-10 which was a complete reversal on their previous advice which had been to increase rents substantially above the rate of inflation.

Cllr Daisy Benson welcomed the rent reduction on behalf of the Lib Dem group and made the point that the above inflation rent rise Labour pushed for in January would have hit many tenants, particularly those in receipt of Housing Benefit (23%) hard.

In January, Labour councillors and officers had urged councillors to back a 4.9% rent increase.

Cllr Benson read from a letter issued by the Department for Communities and Local Government which confirmed that Reading Borough Council would be expect to meet the administration costs of bringing forward this rent reduction in full.

A formal question to Council submitted by Cllr Benson confirmed that officers estimate this figure will amount to in excess of £10,000 and will have to come out of Council coffers.

The Lib Dems proposed an amendment which was successfully carried requesting that the Chief Executive and Leader of the Council be instructed to write to the Minister of State for Housing and Planning welcoming the reduction in guideline rent increase for 2009-10 and the benefits this will bring Council tenants, but also expressing disappointment at the timing and handling of this decision, and the impact it is likely to have on the Council, drawing her attention in particular to:

• The costs which are expected to be incurred to the Council
• The impact on internal budget setting, Housing Revenue Account Balances and delivering quality housing services in Reading
• The brevity of the consultation process

Cllr Daisy Benson commented:

“While we welcome the rent reduction and the benefits this will bring tenants but we are angry at the inept way that this decision has been handled by the Labour government which we now know has cost Reading Borough Council at least £10,000 pounds.”

“The cost will include sending new rent demands to all tenants in the Borough – a second time – which many tenants are likely to find confusing.”

“It is shocking that in a recession, when many councils including Reading are desperately seeking ways to save money, that this Labour government is adding to the financial burden of already cash-strapped local authorities in this way.”

“We sincerely hope that this cock up will not impact on services for residents in Reading.”

Cllr Gareth Epps, Lib Dem Group Leader and Lib Dem Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Reading East added:

“It’s time Labour politicians stop treating Council housing as a political football. This rent reduction is not an act of kindness by Labour but an electoral bribe aimed to save council seats in other areas.

“We will continue to campaign for an end to the dreaded ‘tenant tax’ whereby a significant proportion of Council tenants rent is sucked back to Whitehall.

“Labour should know that reducing the amount stolen from Council tenants by the Treasury doesn’t make the theft any less wrong.”

Editor’s Notes:

More information about the government’s decision to reduce guideline rents for councils can be found here.

Cllr Daisy Benson, Lib Dem Housing spokesperson on Reading Borough Council, has written to senior officers of the Council to highlight the plight of tenants in the many private rented properties in the town facing eviction due to landlords failing to keep up with payments on buy-to let mortgages.

Cllr Daisy Benson said:

“According to a nationwide survey of landlords by housing charity, Shelter, 22 per cent of respondents, around 160,000 households – admit to struggling or falling behind with their monthly mortgage payments.

Five per cent, around 37,000, expect to be repossessed in the next six months.

This issue could become a major problem in Reading, given the fact that 20% of households currently live in rented accomodation and the large number of buy-to-let landlords in the town.

I am very concerned about the impact that this crisis this could have on people renting locally and I have written to the Chief Executive of the Council to ask what the Council can do to support tenants who may be at serious risk from eviction through no fault of their own.”

Cllr Gareth Epps PPC for Reading East added:

“The Lib Dems have long campaigned to raise the profile of Reading’s large private rented housing sector and the people in it.

As a a result of our campaign Labour politicians have realised much more needs to be done in this area. This is long overdue.

However, like many other towns Reading has experienced a massive increase in the number of landlords taking out sub-prime mortgages and subsequently getting into diffculty.”

What is needed now is national action by the Labour Government to stop tenants being evicted, as well as local support for tenants by Reading Borough Council and other agencies.”

Editor’s Notes

Background can be found on the LibDem Redlands website

Lib Dems on Reading Borough Council warmly welcomed support from Labour and Conservative Councillors for two of their long-running campaigns for a better deal for the town’s Council tenants.

Tenant Tax success

A motion to Council calling for an end to the hated “tenant tax” whereby millions of pounds worth of council tenants’ rent is clawed back by the treasury instead of being invested in improving council properties in Reading.

Cllr Gareth Epps, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Campaigner for Reading East pointed out at a meeting of Reading’s ruling Labour Executive last week that the current amount ‘robbed’ from council tenants in the town is around £5.5 million pounts.

At a Council meeting last night, Cllr Gareth Epps said:

“The Lib Dems have been calling for many months for the end to the scandal whereby the rent paid by some of Reading’s poorest tenants ends up in Treasury coffers.

“We revealed at Cabinet recently that this figure currently amounts to well over five miilion pounds – this is totally unacceptable and in a recession this adds insult to injury.”

“We welcome the long overdue U-turn by the Labour administration, and the belated support for our local campaign by the Conservatives, and call on all involved to get behind the national campaign led by the LGA, Defend Council Housing and many MPs to force the government to call a halt to this daylight robbery.

Cllr Daisy Benson, Liberal Democrat Housing spokesperson added:

“Our support for a rise in Council house rents this year rests on the Labour-controlled Council taking an active role in scrapping this hated tax and joining the national campaign to devolve more power over local housing decisions to councils and Council tenants in Reading.”

Lib Dems win funding for estates

Lib Dems in Reading celebrated additional funding for environmental improvements to improve the look and feel of housing estates in the town following a successful campaign.

At a meeting of Reading Borough Council held on 27 January, Labour and Conservative members supported Lib Dem calls for decent neighbourhoods and approved extra spend.

Liberal Democrat Housing Spokesperson, Cllr Daisy Benson said:

“We welcome in particular the £370,000 additional funding earmarked for environmental works to improve the look and feel of housing estates in Reading.

“This echoes the remarks I made a year ago in this chamber about the need for decent neighbourhoods, not just decent homes.”

“It’s not just about new kitchens and bathrooms – people want to feel safe where they live and proud of their neighbourhoods.”

Cllr Gareth Epps, Parliamentary Campaigner for Reading East added:

“From Hexham Road to Amersham Road tenants are calling for cleaner, safer estates. This funding is a step in the right direction and we will continue to campaign to ensure Council investment in housing goes where it is needed’

Editor’s Notes:

Contact Cllr Daisy Benson on 0776 615 7857 or Cllr Gareth Epps on 0795 0035 836 for more details.

Responding to the news that Reading’s Labour politicians have lobbied Housing Minister Margaret Beckett for Government help to bring empty homes in Reading back into use, and to stop the disgraceful practice of council tenants’ rent being clawed back to the Treasury – two Liberal Democrat-led policies in Reading – the Liberal Democrats have welcomed Labour’s change of tack.

Lib Dem Housing Spokesperson Cllr Daisy Benson – who has led the empty homes campaign in Reading – said:

“It’s great news that, only TWO YEARS after the Lib Dems first raised the need for Labour-run Reading Borough Council to bring the many empty homes in the town back into use Labour politicians in Reading have finally got the message.

“Despite Labour agreeing to our call for an Empty Homes strategy, we are still waiting for the first empty property to be brought back into use through the Council. With the recession starting to bite, the need for the Council to work to make long-term empty homes available for families made homeless is now very urgent.”

Parliamentary Campaigner for Reading East, Cllr Gareth Epps added:

“We welcome any support for the Lib Dem campaign to scrap the scandal of the so-called “tenant tax” which sees part of council tenants’ rent clawed back into the Treasury’s coffers every year. Now more than ever the wealth of hard pressed residents in Reading must be safeguarded by the Labour Council.

“What is bizarre is that – only days ago – the Labour Leader of the Council refused to back the cross-party campaign run by councils aimed at stopping Labour’s tenant tax.”

Editor’ Notes:

The Government’s negative subsidy or “tenant tax” means that £4.5 million of Reading council rents – one pound in every five – is being taken by the Government into Treasury coffers. The amount taken has rocketed in the last three years.

The Labour Government’s proposal to remove the right of tenants to live in their homes indefinitely and put rents up if they don’t take on a mortgage has been attacked by local Liberal Democrats.

Patrick Murray, Reading West Lib Dems Parliamentary spokesman, stated that:

“There is no greater indication of the moral vacuum and sheer hypcorisy at the heart of the Labour Government than this ridiculously unfair policy. For almost a decade they have forced councils to sell off their housing, whilst refusing to allow them to build more. They have presided over the lowest rate of building affordable housing since the second world war. There is no question as to who is to blame for the extra 1 million people on housing waiting lists in the last decade. The Labour Government has simply not built enough affordable housing. To attack Council tenants in this way is completely unfair- ministers should be ashamed of their failure and take responsibility for it.”

“At the same time they refused to recognise the dangers of the unsustainable housing bubble that forced so many to seek help from the state and has now collapsed bringing ruin to many people, forcing even more to turn to affordable housing. To tell people that if they have a council house they may lose it in a few years, whilst people are losing their homes to repossessions is unbeleivably callous.”

“If they really want to encourage people out of council housing then they should replace the Thatcher Government’s right-to-buy with a right to invest and build more shared ownership, not threaten to put rents up when people are struggling to meet the bills.”

Editor’s Notes:

Patrick Murray was Executive member for Housing on Oxford City Council 2006-8

The Government’s proposals are documented in this Times article

Lib Dems in Reading have slammed the rescue package for at-risk homeowners as offering nothing for Reading residents struggling to make mortgage repayments – and have said it could make things worse for local people.

Patrick Murray, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary campaigner for Reading West, commented:

“These measures are quite deeply irresponsible. Encouraging first-time buyers at a time when house prices are still falling risks plunging people into negative equity. Not that many people in Reading will benefit from the proposals on stamp duty – very few properties in Reading cost under £175,000, and the changes will have no effect at all on other housebuyers because of the way stamp duty works.”

Cllr Gareth Epps, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary campaigner for Reading East, commented:

“Gordon Brown and the Labour Party have again shown how deeply out of touch they are. The first priority has got to be to take measures to stop the rising ride of mortgage repossessions, which we have revealed are going up in Reading. Other measures include examining a windfall tax on utilities companies, and reforming Stamp Duty to abolish the ‘slab structure’. This would make a difference to the housing market.”

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Campaigner for Reading East, Cllr Gareth Epps, has expressed alarm at the rapid increase in mortgage repossession claims at Reading Crown Court.

The Ministry of Justice published figures on August 15, 2008 showing that the number of mortgage possession claims between January and June 2008 at Reading Crown Court were 26% higher than a year earlier (see justice.gov website Mortgage Repossessions). Compared with last year, figures from the second quarter of 2008 show a 37% increase. Possession orders were 16% higher.

The 37% year-on-year growth in mortgage repossession orders from April-June at Reading Crown Court is one of the highest increases in the South-East.

Gareth Epps commented:

“This dramatic increase is very worrying. We look set to see the highest level of repossessions at Reading Crown Court for at least 10 years.”

“Around the country, thousands of families are now paying the price for the Government letting the economy get hopelessly out of control.

“With rising mortgage repayments and sky high food and fuel costs, more and more people’s budgets are being driven to breaking point.”

“There is a lot of helpful advice available to people in financial difficulty – for example from the Citizens’ Advice Bureau – but we also need a change in the rules.”

“If we are to avoid the mass repossessions of the 1990s, it’s vital that the Government creates a statutory code of practice to ensure that lenders only ever repossess as a last resort.”

“This should not just apply to the big banks but also to the large number of secondary lenders who are using court action to pursue their debts in a very aggressive way.”

Redlands Councillor, Daisy Benson, and Lib Dem parliamentary campaigner for Reading East and Katesgrove Councillor Gareth Epps have welcomed Labour’s belated action to tackle empty homes after Lib Dems called for action TWO YEARS AGO.

In October 2007, the Lib Dem Group on Reading Borough Council tabled a motion to Council calling for action on empty homes. In October 2007, the Lib Dem Group on Reading Borough Council tabled a motion to Council calling for action on empty homes.

Daisy Benson said:

“Labour politicians bragged in Council meetings about the award the Council won for its empty homes policy back in the 1990s (now gathering dust in the Civic Centre). But when I asked about what the Council was currently doing about the problem, I was told by officers that no up to date empty homes policy existed.”

“I am impressed by what I’ve seen of the policy on paper. The Council will need to ensure it is adequately resourced and that officers are proactive in using the Council’s existing powers bringing back into use the hundreds of empty homes that exist all over Reading”

Gareth Epps said:

“Reading has the highest number of homeless people outside London. We all know that pressure for new development on spare land and back gardens is high.”

“Labour clearly took their eye off the ball on this issue and it was left to the Lib Dems to get the issue back on to the agenda.”

“A strategy is a useful first step. Now we need firm action to reduce the numbers of empty homes in Reading. The Lib Dems have identified empty properties across the town and pressed for action. We will continue to take a lead in highlighting where these properties exist.”

Editor,s Notes

Too many families in Reading are losing their homes because of difficulties over mortgage payments, claim leading local Liberal Democrat campaigners Gareth Epps and Patrick Murray.

New figures show that 795 orders for home repossession were issued by Reading county court in 2007. The trend is worsening, as the figures for the last quarter (October-December) show a rise of 8% since 2006.

“795 home repossession orders means 795 families being turfed out of the house they have lived in, often for many years,” said Patrick Murray, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary campaigner for Reading West.

”Many people remember the boom and bust policies of the last Conservative government that saw tens of thousands of people lose their home because they could not keep up with mortgage payments. Now it looks as though the current Labour Government has blundered into a similar mess.”

Cllr Gareth Epps commented,

”Gordon Brown has run an economy that has been fuelled by a runaway credit boom he has done little to bring under control.”

”795 families in 2007 paid the price for growing economic incompetence by Gordon Brown in Reading. There are now serious concerns that in 2008, the situation will get worse.”

“It is difficult enough for young people and families to get onto the housing ladder in Reading. With little sign of any change of policy from Gordon Brown, prospective first-time buyers feel more and more that Labour is pulling up the rug from under them.”

Cllr Chris Harris, Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson on Reading Borough Council, added:

”The Government has failed to ensure there are enough homes to meet people’s needs. For every ten families on the waiting list in England for social housing in 1997, when Labour came to power, there are now sixteen.”

Editor’ s Note

The figures for repossessions were published by the Department for Justice on 8th February.