Forum Topic

I beg to differ.

Reference this item in Guy Lambert's weekly blog - below.I've just spent months trying to get an 3 bed council house where I live finally let, because I was so outraged that this is allowed to happen. I was in constant contact with a ward councillor, and the various tales he got from housing and gave to me really did beggar belief. The house finally has been let, but it was empty for a YEAR and a bigger load of old garbage offered as ongoing and ever changing excuses for their outrageous tardiness by the housing dept. were worthy of a Pullitzer Prize! There is also another 3 bed property here, also empty for over a year, so what the bloody hell is going on? Guy maintains we need ever more flats built, but I'd like to know why the council doesn't use the powers it has Under the Empty Dwelling Management Order (EDMO) legislation to bring into use abandoned private properties, where an owner cannot be located? I did ask ages ago and got told it's all too complicated - well it's a damned site more complicated to be stuck in a room with a couple of small children  with no sense coming out of Hounslow council. We all know there is a terrible shortage of really affordable housing, and surely that means every, effort with all the powers at their disposal should be used by local authorities? Or am I missing something?"Nobody turned up for the surgery but a man who I had invited had explained he could not attend: he has been put into a B&B in Hayes following a no-fault eviction by a private landlord. He is in a single room with one bed with two daughters, at least one of which is a toddler. meanwhile his wife is in West Middlesex with some illness that means she is retained there. He is pretty desperate, trying to survive in a single room with 3 people, bringing his daughter somehow to nursery in Brentford. I tried to reassure him: the housing people have to find places for many people with similar problems with no flats available. People think they are unhelpful but in my experience they are determined to help as fast as they can. and their record with 'my' homeless people has been resolved fairly soon. I asked him to try and be calm and come back to me at the end of this week if nothing has happened."

Vanessa Smith ● 8d4 Comments

I'm not sure that things were anymore difficult for my cohort of councillors, we too had our problems - for one big one Thatcher and her merry band to cope with. But, we also had very experienced councillors who knew why they were elected and understood local government- not forgetting the much missed committee system. Whatever any of those who have to live with this 'cabinet model' nonsense may think, the committee system allowed a far more democratic and equal way of running things, and allowed much more oversight across the council's services. Also, I think we were all probably more involved with our local CLPs so did not lose sight of Labour principles and member's views. And I'm sorry, but whatever the drawbacks, when in the middle of a crisis affecting people's everyday lives you leave no stone unturned in your efforts to resolve matters. EDMO may not be perfect, but 'half-hearted' attempts are not acceptable while we continue to leave any properties empty, and what sort of a housing dept. have we landed ourselves with when they 'resist' any effort to address the problems there are?  And where are members when this is going on? Why aren't cabinet members on top of these things? They are elected, NOT the blasted officers, and they need to be telling them what to do not sitting back and allowing them to do as they like, why else are they employed if not to carry out the policies of the majority group?

Vanessa Smith ● 2d

Vanessa, as you must know, running a council is difficult and I guess a lot more difficult than it was when you were a councillor. In those days Hounslow got a Rate Support Grant of many millions every year. Recently we have had nothing, though with a Labour party they are beginning to restore a bit of it.As to EDMOs this legislation from 2004 seems to be a bit of a mess and has been made a worse mess by Eric Pickles in 2012 https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn04129/When I was closely engaged with Lampton there was what turned out to be a half-hearted effort to use Lampton to bring empty houses back into use but it never progressed due to (I think) resistance from Housing and I don't think Lampton any longer have the capacity to do anything like this.As I have remarked elsewhere, the country we live in has IMO too often got into a state where there is more attention to procedure than there is to need (or economic benefit). This is not confined to councils but afflicts the private sector as well.

Guy Lambert ● 2d

What is the reluctance of Hounslow to use the EDMO legislation? You might also ask how they can afford to leave too many of their properties empty for so long losing both rent and council tax? And honestly if these housing experts really didn't know how to 'calculate service charges' then how do they get these jobs in the first place? It beggars belief, not only that they seem to be ever so good at trying to tell us that they win all these awards for being so clever. God alone knows what the competition was like is all I can say.

Vanessa Smith ● 2d

I agree Vanessa, but it needs a different attitude in Housing. That's partly why I am no longer Labour. What originally upset the powers that be was I was trying to get 5 brand new lovely council houses in my ward occupied. I was told they could not be until they sorted out how to calculate service charges. These were 3 BR houses that had been finished for months. They were occupied a few days after I went public (and got myself suspended and expelled 😂)

Guy Lambert ● 4d