Tenants and trade unions conference will respond to Chancellor

Tomorrow (Tuesday) council tenants, trade unionists, councillors and MPs from across the UK will respond to the chancellor's statement at the Defend Council Housing national conference in London.

The conference will call for a big investment programme to provide an alternative to privatisation and for a massive investment programme to start building a new generation of first class council homes to address housing need.

Austin Mitchell MP, chair of the House of Commons Council Housing group opening the conference, plans to argue “Modernising existing homes and building a new generation of first class council housing is the best way for government to meet housing need and give the economy a real boost.

Relying on the private sector – including Registered Social Landlords – has been a failure. It’s time to let democratically elected councils get back to providing council homes with secure tenancies and low rents that people need.”

Alan Walter, Camden tenant and DCH chair, will say; “Government is ideally placed to dictate clear terms to bankers and builders to work with local authorities to modernise existing and build new first class council homes.

"There’s massive opposition to privatisation amongst Britain’s 2.5 million council tenants and 1.7 million households on council waiting lists shows that council housing is very popular. Ministers have to drop their privatisation and home ownership dogma and listen to the people. Invest in first class council housing!”

The DCH conference will discuss the government’s Review of Council Housing Finance which is due to report next spring and warn Ministers to deliver on their promise “to ensure that we have a sustainable, long term system for financing council housing".

Delegates will also demand an immediate moratorium on any further privatisation of council housing and an increase in the “draft subsidy determination” that sets allowances for council housing.