BNP warning over 'local homes for local people' call

Published by Ross Macmillan for 24dash.com in Housing

Shadow housing minister Alison Seabeck has warned that a Conservative MP's calls for "local homes for local people" could risk creating similar tensions to when the British National Party (BNP) got itself elected in Tower Hamelts in the 1980s.

The warning came in a Westminster Hall debate on social housing following calls from Conservative MP for Harlow, Robert Halfon who set out his concerns regarding social housing waiting lists, saying that "not enough priority is being given to local people."

He said: "I look forward to the day when I can say, 'Harlow housing for Harlow people.' I say that because an anguished bus driver—Mr Darren Presland—came to see me at a surgery last Friday evening. He sat in my surgery and was very angry for 10 minutes. He was furious that people from outside Harlow, including many foreign nationals, are allowed on to the Harlow waiting list. It is true that, for many years, local authorities have had to include literally anyone on their waiting list with few exceptions and that they have different bands of priority within the list. Mr Presland was making a serious point: that many people on low incomes are angry and disillusioned with politics because people who are not local are allowed on to the waiting list."

Ms Seabeck said many local authorities were now considering how they offer local people council housing but warned there were tensions when raising the issue.

She said: "...does he accept that there are dangers involved in “local homes for local people”? We saw that in Tower Hamlets in the 1980s, where the BNP got itself elected on the basis of “local homes for local people,” because what it actually meant was “local homes for local white people.” There is a genuine tension there and we must be responsible about how we manage and talk about such issues."

Mr Halfon added: "...The BNP was elected because, in many cases, the myth was purported that homes were being given to foreigners, and that was believed by residents who were not getting houses themselves. That is why the BNP was sadly successful in that area."

Under plans in the Localism Bill the Government will give councils new powers to determine who qualifies to join their waiting list. Central Government will, however, set the categories considered to have the greatest housing needs.