Southwark Labour Leader Cllr Sarah King has today appeared in Parliament to fly the flag for council housing amidst a national funding crisis.
Southwark Labour has consistently prioritised council housing as the priority means of delivering genuinely affordable homes for local people, having built or started over 3,000 new council homes.
However, Cllr King raised concerns about the national funding crisis facing council housing, following years of funding and revenue cuts for councils.
In 2012 the Lib Dem and Tory coalition government saddled councils across the country with debts before cutting their funding and reducing income from rents. This meant council homes cost more to maintain with less income to maintain them, pushing standards down nationwide.
New regulations following the Grenfell Fire have been welcomed as an absolute necessity by councils, however have had no funding to accompany them meaning across the country fire safety fixes are being made in place of regular repairs and upgrades to council homes across – not alongside them.
Southwark has led a national coalition of 112 council landlords in calling for practical changes to how council homes are funded, in order to unlock councils’ ability to upgrade and look after existing homes, and build the next generation of council homes.
Southwark Labour is also pushing ahead with its plan to make the council a good landlord, investing in safety whilst overhauling the repairs service and making sure everyone who interacts with the council has a positive experience.
Speaking outside the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee, Cllr King said:
“Southwark Labour have prioritised building council homes with 3,000 build or started so far. We want to play our part in delivering the biggest boost to social housing in a generation, but council house finances are broken across the country.
That’s why we have led a national campaign on behalf of our residents to secure the future of council housing – fixing council house funding and cutting Treasury red tape so we can look after our existing homes and build the next generation of council homes in Southwark.”