Defend Council Housing slams Ruth Kelly's speech » Housing » 24dash.com

Defend Council Housing says Ruth Kelly's speech offers nothing to most of three  million council tenants across the UK.

The group claims the policy statement says more about how Ministers are still trying to avoid growing calls for the 'Fourth Option' - direct investment to improve existing and build new council homes.

Alan Walter, chair of Defend Council Housing, said: "It's a scandal that government continues to siphon money out of council housing and tells council tenants they can't have repairs and improvements without privatisation whilst using money from council housing to subsidise home ownership schemes.

"Subsidising home ownership doesn't add to the supply of housing, doesn't improve existing homes and estates and adds to the deliberate policy of stigmatising public rented housing.

"Real choice means allowing council tenants to choose to remain with the council and get improvements to our homes and estates. It's time Ministers dropped the dogma. It's time they listened to the people and gave us the 'Fourth Option' of direct investment."

"The main policy initiative announced by the Secretary of State was yet another home ownership scheme – this one based on tenants buying a 10% stake in their home. The reality for most council tenants is that they can neither afford home ownership nor necessarily want it. Quite how 'owning' a 10% stake is going to change people's lives is not clear.

"Kelly was noticeably silent on how new part owners would manage financially to be responsible for 100% of the repairs and maintenance to their new asset. She didn't provide any new evidence to support her assertion that tenant satisfaction is low. Nor did she address satisfaction levels in the private sector (the majority of non Decent Homes) which include many 'home owners' who might be asset rich but live in disrepair because they can't afford to mend their roof or re-wire their house. The fact is that council tenants are voting to remain as council tenants with a higher proportion of NO votes against privatisation than ever before."

Defend Council Housing believes that first , affordable, secure and accountable council housing can provide a major contribution to meeting current housing need.