Ditch council property ownership signs, argues Tory councillor

Published by Max Salsbury for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Communities, Local Government

A Tory councillor has argued that signs on blocks of flats that state they are council property should be abolished - as they create a social stigma.

Writing on the Conservative Home website, Harry Phibbs (pictured), councillor and Cabinet Member for Community Engagement in the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham, quotes Professor Loretta Lees from King's College London's geography department, who says: "The word 'estate' has become synonymous with the term 'ghetto'."

Furthermore, Mr Phibbs argues that a "typical block of council flats" will contain privately owned units purchased under right to buy, making it inaccurate for the signs to claim that the property is wholly owned by the council.

Mr Phibbs also argues that the word "estate" has a social stigma that may be better avoided, and points to a BBC report that claims that when estates are redeveloped tenants often favour ditching the word.

Mr Phibbs wrote: "There seems to me no logic in putting a large notice outside a block of flats saying they belong to the council. Imagine the stigma if this was done with council owned street properties?

"A friend of mine used to live in Hugh Gaitskell House in Harlesden. She used to sign her letters giving the address as "Gaitskell Court" so that her correspondents couldn't tell it was a council flat. I think she partly did this as a joke - but not entirely."