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Cllr Biddolph's latest blog

I read the second item on Cllr Biddolph's weekly blog with interest. I have three questions for her. She clearly cares that people are living in wholly inadequate accommodation.  However she then drags in the issue of 'shoebox flats'. She must know that for flats to gain planning permission they must conform to London building standards, which are now national:https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Minimum_space_standards/If you want better standards then we should go back to the old Parker-Morris standards.  Will Cllr Biddolph be asking the Conservative Government to do that?The real evil is where 'permitted development' of offices and shops allows these standards to be circumvented.Will Cllr Biddolph be asking the Conservative Government to stop this happening?The heart-breaking case Cllr Biddolph refers to can only be resolved in the longer term if Councils have more and  bigger flats to let. We know why there's a shortage of Council housing: it's called 'Buy to Let'. The Treasury snaffled the money from sales and only one in nine houses and flats were replaced. The 2019 Conservative manifesto proposes to force Housing Associations into 'Buy to Let'. Is Cllr Biddolph in favour of that manifesto pledge?Even if Council's had the money to build more new housing, where would they  be built?  According to ConservativeHome.com both contenders, Sunak and Truss, have backed away from upsetting Conservative Party members in southern suburbs and towns who are vehemently against building on their patch. See:  https://conservativehome.com/2022/08/07/a-true-heir-to-thatcher-would-confront-the-housing-crisis-but-neither-sunak-nor-truss-will/.I don't want to go on and on, but I would urge Cllr Biddolph to stop making cheap shots at Hounslow Council and to spend some time thinking  about how she could move the Conservative Party away from costly, pointless initiatives like 'Help to Buy'. Harold Macmillan was a  Conservative Premier who built more houses in government than anyone perhaps at their next seance the Tories could try channelling him rather than Mrs. Thatcher.

David McLoughlin ● 1499d24 Comments

David,        I have never been a Labour Councillor.I have , many times, raised in the Labour Party the need for Hounslow Council to find ways of acquiring or building more Council housing.  As it happens the new Government White Paper on the private rented sector contains some good proposals. It can be found here:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1083378/A_fairer_private_rented_sector_web_accessible.pdfChristian Harper has a good summary here: http://www.chiswickw4.com/default.asp?section=property&page=adharpersofchiswick003.htmWe have had a Conservative Government for twelve years.  I asked Cllr Biddolph three questions.  I believe she is genuinely concerned about the case she mentioned. I can assure you that I have found similar cases when canvassing and have raised them with Labour Cllrs.  I was naive enough to think that the old overcrowding rules applied (one bedroom for two adults, one bedroom for two children , additional bedroom if children are of different sexes after age 10).  I was told that with a housing waiting list of over 5000 in Hounslow, these rules no longer applied.I think we cannot improve the situation without doing some radical things. We have to build more housing in London and the South-east while accelerating the levelling up process so that internal migration to London and the South -East declines. That housing has to be built to a more generous standard than that currently prescribed. We also have to stop the pernicious practice of converting shops and offices to 'shoebox' flats. Meanwhile Housing Associations should be discouraged from selling off homes either to tenants or to private developers.The problem is that this is not Government policy and has not been for the last twelve years. Hence my questions to Cllr Biddolph. I am happy to admit that the last Labour Government did not do enough to solve the housing crisis. It took a softly, softly approach to 'Right to Buy' limiting the discount to £75,000 which all but ended 'Right to Buy' sales in London.  It should have worked to change the balance of power between private landlords and their tenants.  It should have changed the Treasury rules and made it easier for Councils to buy and build.  I am doing my best to make sure that the next Labour Government takes a bolder approach.  Meanwhile we have two years more of either Truss or Sunak. It seems fair to me to ask these questions of my local Cllr who has expressed concern about a housing case. Simply blaming Hounslow Council won't do.  It requires proper inquiry as to the causes of a problem and then using one's influence to change policy. In Cllr Biddolph's case there is a Conservative Councillors Association where she could raise these concerns.

David McLoughlin ● 1498d

I take issue with Councillor Biddolph claiming (via her proxy) that she is single handedly solving the housing crisis or indeed did anything to help the person facing eviction due to his home being turned into an AirBnB.Rachael Maskell (Lab MP for York) puts the issue well, in reference to the 45% increase in AirBnBs in her area since 2020:"[Local people] are faithfully saving for their mortgage, but when they go to put an offer on a house, someone undercuts them by tens of thousands of pounds, because they know that they will get the return. Renting a property in York costs, on average, £945 a month. An Airbnb stay over a weekend costs £700. That is why we are seeing this massive reorientation. Section 21 notices are being issued to people in the private rented sector to move them on to make way for Airbnbs."Councillor Biddolph prefers to blame a Labour council for housing issues rather than her party's 12 years in government.  She says: "I believe we have a duty to do better" - that's damn right, and the least she could do is pick up the phone to Marcus Jones to insist that local councils have the right to regulate, reduce or even ban AirBnB rentals in areas where there are not enough homes and not to miss the opportunity to put this right in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill.Unfortunately: "no local councillor has the ability to pick up the phone and give the housing minister a call".Marcus Jones' phone number: 024 7634 8482And his email: marcus.jones.mp@parliament.ukAll available on his website:https://www.marcusjones.org.uk/contact-marcus

Ed Saper ● 1497d