As the Labour leader of Crawley Borough Council I can reveal in this week’s Observer that I have requested that officers conduct a review that shall include the decision to return to secure tenancies on our council housing. This will be the first step, I hope, in undoing a fundamental injustice.
Back in 2012 the Tory Government made councils introduce “flexible” tenancies. It was done, people might remember, because it was argued drastic changes of circumstances might see tenants’ income rise massively so they could afford their own privately owned housing.
Perhaps not entirely surprisingly, the number of people this applies to hasn’t been very high. And those enjoying such superlative fortune either moved themselves or exercised their right to buy (which of course, the Tories made even easier to do by selling them off even cheaper than before).
In making this decision we have also focused on outcomes since their implementation – only in one instance has it been used in Crawley to downsize a tenant to a smaller property. The current flexible tenancy process creates unnecessary layers of work and officer time in each review, its impact in disincentivising mutual exchanges is also a factor. Indeed, looking at the reasons provided for their use, they were all ones where other mechanisms for eviction were available, if that was appropriate.
To conclude, we do not believe it is worth it for all the uncertainties it creates for our council house tenants. The Tories’ ten year long experiment interfering with people’s council house tenancies has been a failure. It has delivered nothing but insecurity and stress. That is why, given the increasing levels of instability and insecurity within the private rented sector, we wish to reduce that uncertainty in whatever way we can deliver that is under our control.
I am proud of Crawley Borough’s record of providing council housing, it is one of our greatest achievements and we remain a beacon council for many other local authorities.
But we cannot serve our tenants best if there remains any doubt that it can be taken away from them.
These are people’s homes. Yes, the council should offer people the choice to downsize where appropriate, but it should be their choice.
The Tory decision to try and steamroller tenants was failing to address the real problem and in fact scapegoating the residents themselves. The problem has not been so much that Mrs Blenkinsop is still living in her family home, it is that this Tory Government has spent the past twelve years doing everything it can to inhibit council house building, from introducing new financial restrictions, to making it easier for councils to lose their housing stock.
Cllr Michael Jones
Leader, Crawley Borough Council