Right wing ideologues who are denying ordinary British workers decent housing

The billionaire press barons and the right wing governments of the last three decades have enacted a huge act of fraud and dishonesty on ordinary working class people. I am talking about the management of housing stock. When I left school in 1981, living in London and buying a house was not an issue. You knew that if you got a decent job and saved up for a couple of years, you could afford to buy a house on the basis of a 10% deposit and a mortgage of three times your salary. I bought my house in 1987 for £44,000. At the time I was working for BT and I had a salary of £18,000 per annum. As I've always managed my finances sensibly, I was able to obtain a mortgage with no problem at all. I put down a £5,000 deposit and the rest was easily funded. That house is now worth in excess of £650,000. On the same equation, I would have required a salary of £220,000 per annum to buy the same place. In short, it is impossible for an ordinary person on an normal salary to buy property without major assistance. London house prices rise faster than inflation, so the situation is getting worse, not better. Who benefits? Today in the Daily Express there is a story about a former school teacher who is selling his portfolio of 900 buy to let houses. His company is worth billions. Good luck to him. The sad truth is that hoiusing is now a commodity not a place to live for many. It is a way to guarantee a pension, as the pension industry has lost the trust of many to guarantee a decent lifestyle in old age.

Even worse is the situation with social housing. A city does not work without workers on relatively low pay. These people need decent homes. Margaret Thatcher invented the right to buy. The net result of this is that a majority of former Council house stocks in places like Barnet have transferred from local authority control to gentlemen like the one in the Daily Express article. Housing that was on decent rental rates for working class people with specific requirements is now simply part of the private, unregulated housing market. Thatcher screwed up in two major ways (deliberately I beieve). Former Council tenants were given huge discounts to buy their homes. I disagree with many socialists in that I think this was right and was socially progressive. Where I disagree with Thatcher was that I believe those homes should have been sold with a clause stating that any future owner can only rent the property at the rent set by the council for council homes. This would have cut out the profiteering buy to let landlords.  As former tenants got a huge discount, they should have been leegally obliged to ensure the homes were still available at resonable rents if they chose to move on. The other mistake Thatcher made was that none of the proceeds were invested in repleneshing the council housing stock.

You may wonder where the press barons come in. These Tory supporting billionaires have done a despicable thing. They have helped to pedal the lie that the issues with housing are the fault of immigrants rather than the bad policies of right wing governments. It is clear to anyone that a refugee arriving with nothing but the shirt on their back will need somewhere to live. The fact that governments have failed to manage their housing stock has meant that the migrant rather than the government has been blamed in the minds of many. As the taxation policies of right wing governments are hugely beneficial to the billionaires, they have no interest in blaming the people responsible. Rather like a bully, they seek to pick on those least able to defend themselves. To me this is immoral.

It is clear what needs to be done. The right to buy has to include a clause for future rental, to peg at council house rates and the proceeds need investing in new stock. My parents started their marriage in Council housing for the first twelve years of their marriage. This enabled them to raise a family and then as their finances improved they bought a home. Every young family should have a home available near their place of work. This is not some silly socialist pipedream, it is how you ensure your economy functions. Contrary to what you may believe, I am a Capitalist. I run my own business and I employ people. Unlike many Capitalists, I believe that social responsibility is a key element of being relatively well off. Without my staff my business is nothing. If my staff have nowhere to live, then I have no business. The same is true for every business in London. It really is time that the billionaires who produce the lie sheets we read woke up to this fact. Housing should be a right and providing it is a primary function of government. A government that fails to do this is a failed government.

Saturday extra - London News Roundup

First up - some great news. The forthcoming film, A Tale of Two Barnets is really starting to catch the publics imagination. The story about the film is currently the most read story on the Hendon Times website. Here's th screenshot (click on the image to view the story)

From the Times Series website

Check out the film website here - http://ataleoftwobarnets.yolasite.com/. This is what the director, Charles Honderick has to say about the film.

My mother's family are from the London Borough of Barnet and I'd spent a lot of time growing up there, so in a way this film was a labour of love. I wasn't quite sure what direction the film was going to take when it began, but as I interviewed people a story emerged.  I wanted to give the people of Barnet a platform to talk about important local issues and put on record what life is like in this part of London in a year when the eyes of the world are on the great city of  London.

Although it's only a small film, I hope it makes a difference  and helps affect change for the better.

Another interesting story on the Times website is about Harrow Council taking enforcement action against a Shisha Cafe, which erected an illegal structure on Edgware High Street.

http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/topstories/9567676.Edgware_shisha_caf___demolished/

Many Barnet residents are watching with interest to see if Barnet Council will take a similar firm line with Belmont Childrens farm, which is reaching the end of the six month period to comply with the planning requirements. We understand that Mr Reid, former Conservative party deputy chairman is bullish about his prospects for keeping the park open, so we hope he has complied with the planning issues and the park can stay open.

On to the big issue facing London. An issue I have buried my head in the sand about for many years. Since Xmas, I've been volunteering at a day centre for homeless people - http://www.passage.org.uk/ - if you are unaware of the issues facing homeless people, please check out The Pavement - a magazine for homeless people - http://www.thepavement.org.uk/  - I think a society which looks the other way is a society which fails.

A friend of mine and occasional guest blogger forwarded me  an appeal from Crisis, who she volunteers for at a Christmas centre. Here is the contents
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Crisis Campaigns
Rough sleeping soars as cuts hit
	Dear Hilda, In my first week as the new Campaigns Manager at Crisis the Government has released its latest rough sleeping figures and I'm shocked. Stats out today show a 23% rise in rough sleeping this year. And independent research for Crisis predicts that with unemployment climbing, soaring demand for limited affordable housing, and government cuts to benefits and services, things are set to get worse. Sleeping rough is a dangerous and traumatising experience. That's why we're calling for a change in the law to make sure local councils help anyone facing homelessness. And that's why campaigners like you are so important to Crisis - we must not give up the fight to end homelessness. Share this shocking rise in rough sleeping on Twitter and facebook today. Share on Twitter    Share on Facebook Thanks for your continued support.  HelenCampaigns Manager
Thanks to photography by Amiran White

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Perhaps an even bigger issue is youth violence. Dave Hill focusses on this in the Guardian - http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davehillblog/2012/mar/02/london-serious-yoiuth-violence-solutions - only a fool would pretend that youth violence is something new. I certainly don't think that Boris Johnson is to blame for it, but I do think he has not followed up his words in the 2008 Mayoral election with action to deal with it. The cuts to safer neighbourhood teams is a tragic folly. I don't know about you, but I'd be quite happy to pay an extra 50p a week for Police on the street to make sure my kids are safe. I'd forego a bag of crisps a week, wouldn't you?

But lets not end on a low note. There is a good news story for all Londoners. The Cutty Sark is reopening to the public on April 26th - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17233100 -  Greenwich is a great place for a day out. I also thoroughly recommend the planetarium show at the Royal Observatory - http://www.rmg.co.uk/visit/planetarium-shows/ - booking recommended as it's very popular. We went there recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. If you want to really see this part of London, Here's my recommended itinery for a day out from the London Borough of Barnet. Get the train from Mill Hill Broadway to Blackfriars and take the clipper from Blackfriars pier to Greenwich. Visit the armaments musem, then do the planetarium show. For lunch, nip into the food hall in the market, cheap and tasty and then do the Cutty Sark. Get the DLR back, via Stratford and then get the North London Line to West Hampstead, to see the Olympic Park - very impressive. You will also get some great views of London and St Pancras Station. If you can time this for sunset, I believe this is a view worth it's weight in Gold.

Just before I sign off, I'd like to draw your attention to the latest Poem - Son - by local poet Paul David Hogan. Paul has set up a blog and is publishing his poetry on it. As a Father, I would say that this is probably the finest description of Fatherhood I've ever read. Please check out Paul's website - http://thetroublewithpaul.blogspot.com/2012/03/son.html

Son:

Son.
I don't tell you to keep your chin up
because I'm afraid of how it looks if you don't.
It's important to know how to win and lose
and accept both with grace.

Son.
I'm not open and honest with you about everything
because I'm proud or boastful of all I've done.
But because I want you to learn from my mistakes
and for you to thrive on goodness.

Son.
I don't want you to be the mirror of me.
You are unique, not insular, strong, funny and kind.
You have already become your own person,
In spite of my failings as a man and father.

Son.
Your budding being, inspires me every waking hour,
to remember that no one is perfect, least of all me.
But I'm intelligent enough to know, that as long as we stay close,
I'm succeeding, for now, where many 'better' men have failed.

Son. Forever, my Son.

© Paul David Hogan 2012


Have a nice weekend

The Barnet Eye Exposes who Councillor Brian Coleman and his Tory chums do help with housing !

The Evening Standard has picked up on the story first blogged here, about the single mother who was told to "live in the real world" by Barnet Councillor Brian Coleman, when she asked him for advice and help in relation to a problem with her housing.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24000058-pound-120000-a-year-tory-tells-desperate-mother-to-live-in-real-world.do

So you may ask, who does Councillor Coleman and his Barnet Tory chums think should be given financial assistance when it comes to housing. That's an easy one. His good friend and protege Councillor Tom Davey has just signed off a delegated powers report to give up to £100,000 as "LANDORD CASH INCENTIVES". You've got that? Barnet Tory Councillors won't help single mothers with special needs, but they will give people who can afford to own property "CASH INCENTIVES" to make even more money.

Scroll to page 11 of this document if you don't believe me.
DPR-7

And just in case you think I'm an evil, disturbed blogger who made it up, because it is so ridiculous, here is the link to the same document on the Council website :-


http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/dp/meetingdetail.asp?meetingid=7026

Funny how they can't be bothered to help the poor, but cash is no problem for rich property owners.

Affordable Council Housing

I just performed a Google search on the following text (cut and paste this into one and try it yourself)

"Labour mp" "affordable council housing"

I wanted to do a blog on what MP's had to say about this subject. I was hoping to find a selection of articles to quote. The results shocked me. There were only 37 hits returned and not one from a major national Newspaper.

We''ve had a "Labour" Government for 12 years with huge majorities. The Labour party are meant to look after working people. My parents moved into a council house in 1948 as this was what working couples used to do. They bought their own home in 1960, as their business had taken off. The philosophy then was that couples need some help starting out, once they have secure finances they move on.

The philosophy of today is one of stress, debt, dodgy private landlords, insecurity and worry.

As I pondered this, I remembered that it's not Labour, it's NEW Labour - I always wondered what the NEW in New Labour stood for. I think I've figured it out.

Nepotistic - Have you noticed the number of "poweful families" involved with New Labour?
Egotistical - Macho policies devised to show tough Leadership (tough on the poor that is)
Wealthy - How many senior New Labour figures are from poor backgrounds?

Is it any wonder they never mention affordable council housing? Just as a comparison, I did the following search to see what our "New" Labour MP's really care about.

"Labour mp" allowances

That returned 29,200 hits and there lies the problem with Great Britain today.

If you want my advice on achieving financial security in Great Britain today? Choose your parents well.