Defending secure tenancies and opposing means testing

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Press Coverage

Inside Housing

27/08/10

Tories Exposed for Mis-Selling Security

Inside Housing

13/08/10

Tenants Have Rights to Secure Tenures

Inside Housing

13/08/10

Tories discussed council housing reforms before election, magazine reports

Guardian

12/08/10

Where will the Council re-house us?

Guardian

12/08/10

Council house row: why David Cameron is wrong

Janet Daley, Telegraph

07/08/10

Cameron's U-turn on security of tenure

Inside Housing

06/08/10

London's Housing Crisis: the roots of David Cameron's council tenancy debate

Guardian

05/08/10

Coalition Faces Rift over Secure Tenancies

Inside Housing

05/08/10

No more council houses for life, says David Cameron

Jon Swaine, Telegraph

04/08/10

Cameron threatens lifetime tenancies

Inside Housing

03/08/10

David Cameron announces plan to end lifetime council tenancies

The Guardian

03/08/10

Council homes for life could go, says Cameron

BBC

03/08/10

Tenant Services Authority to be axed

Sunday Mirror

20/06/10

Morning Star

04/05/10

Cameron: social tenants have nothing to fear

Inside Housing

30/04/10

Parties reveal vision for future of housing

Inside Housing

16/04/10

Healey and Shapps start war of words

Inside Housing

09/04/10

Constructive debate

Inside Housing

19/03/10

Work should not affect social rents

Inside Housing

22/01/10

Rent should not be linked to income

Inside Housing

15/01/10

CIH: charge high earners more rent

Inside Housing

08/01/10

Housing after the credit crunch [speech by John Healey]

CLG

09/12/09

Council tenants 'rewards' urged

BBC

02/12/09

Flight of freedom

Inside Housing

20/11/09

Red tape cut as Marsh opts for local liability

Inside Housing

13/11/09

Not everyone wants to own

Inside Housing

06/11/09

Subsidies exist in private sector too

Inside Housing

06/11/09

Blueprint for the future

Inside Housing

23/10/09

Landlords warn Tories mobility plan wont work

Inside Housing

09/10/09

Cameron to bring back secure tenancy opponent

Inside Housing

09/10/09

Think tank calls for tenancy overhaul to tackle overcrowding

Inside Housing

07/09/09

Housing benefit facing axe as Tories plot huge rent rises

Daily Mirror

07/09/09

Tory plot to put up rents exposed

Daily Mirror

07/09/09

Healey: what green paper?

Inside Housing

07/08/09

Baptism of fire (interview with John Healey)

Inside Housing

07/08/09

'Keep your hands off council housing'

Inside Housing

19/06/09

TSA committed to protecting tenure

Inside Housing

19/06/09

Moving on up? I dont think so

Inside Housing

19/06/09

Popular demand

Inside Housing

12/06/09

Controversy as regulator plans tenure overhaul

Inside Housing

12/06/09

Right to buy gave sector a bad image

Inside Housing

05/06/09

Portillo calls for end of tenancy for life

Inside Housing

05/06/09

The crippling cost of right-to-buy

BBC

14/05/09

Is council housing the answer to our problems?

Deborah Orr, Independent

05/03/09

MP warns thousands at risk of home repossession 'without court order'

24dash

03/03/09

Anaylsis: Anti-social Housing

BBC Radio 4

26/02/09

Teenagers targeted

Inside Housing

30/01/09

Campaigners wary of Brown's building vow

Inside Housing

30/01/09

View tenants rights in context

Inside Housing

09/01/09

Pledge to revolutionise housing benefit regime

Inside Housing

12/12/08

A question of privilege

Inside Housing

12/12/08

Security of tenure chewed up and spat out

Inside Housing

12/12/08

Council estates full of layabouts

James Beatie, Daily Mirror

03/12/08

IDS: Council estates full of layabouts

Jason Beattie, Daily Mirror

03/12/08

Call for end to 'benefits culture'

Guardian

02/12/08

Tenancy for life ban seen as 'dead parrot'

Inside Housing

26/11/08

An unwelcome blast from the past

Tim Dwelly, Inside Housing

21/11/08

Not for turning

Inside Housing

14/11/08

Should social housing tenures be for life?

Adam Sampson/Kate Davies, Times

14/11/08

Social housing policy could result in more ghetto estates

Jill Sherman and Rebecca OConnor , Times

14/11/08

Council homes can be tenure of choice

Alan Walter, Inside Housing

14/11/08

RSLs slam plans to end homes for life

Public Finance

14/11/08

Beckett dismisses tenancy for life speculation

Emily Rogers, Inside Housing

12/11/08

Right-to-buy pricing people out of area

Sheffield Star

12/11/08

MP slams council homes 'fixed term'

Sheffield Star

12/11/08

Home concerns

Editorial, Sheffield Star

11/11/08

This smacks of Ministers wanting to penalise the most vulnerable

Sheffield Star

11/11/08

Council homes

Austin Mitchell, Times

11/11/08

Fed warns plan would create ghettos

Inside Housing

10/11/08

Mean tests for council tenants

Adam Sampson, Guardian

10/11/08

'Council homes for life' reviewed

BBC

10/11/08

The Home Front

Leader, Times

10/11/08

Council homes for life to be scrapped

Jill Sherman, Times

10/11/08

Its all in the mix

Kate Murray, Inside Housing

07/11/08

Repossessions soar by 71 per cent

Martin Hilditch, Inside Housing

28/10/08

Institute defends tenancy for life proposals

Martin Hilditch, Inside Housing

28/10/08

Court protocol strengthens repossession rights

Inside Housing

22/10/08

The right to a home for life: a debate that runs and runs

Inside Housing

17/10/08

Would tenancy plans leave no room for improvement?

Inside Housing

17/10/08

Residents slam tenancy for life proposal

Inside Housing

13/10/08

Housing profession calls for end to tenancy for life

Inside Housing

08/10/08

Landlord bars tenant for seeking work

Inside Housing

19/09/08

Association chair questions social housing need

Inside Housing

17/09/08

Policy group rejects work-to-rent plans

Inside Housing

15/08/08

Marsh: we will ask the tough questions

Inside Housing

08/08/08

A week that taught me home truths about the housing crisis

Will Hutton, Observer

27/07/08

Paid to find tenants jobs

Keith Cooper, Inside Housing

25/07/08

Mayer: landlords threatened by market tsunami

Inside Housing

13/06/08

The F word

Inside Housing

13/06/08

Perceived ideas

Inside Housing

06/06/08

Ratings agency downgrades outlook for Home Group

Inside Housing

06/06/08

Social sectors greatest downfall still its image problem, poll shows

Inside Housing

06/06/08

Associations use draconian eviction rules

Inside Housing

30/05/08

Safety net for repossession victims

Inside Housing

30/05/08

Choice between last resort or sustaining role

Inside Housing

22/05/08

Repossessions set for dramatic rise

Jamie Doward, Observer

04/05/08

Labour heartland faces housing crash

Jason Allardyce , Sunday Times

06/04/08

Labour MPs' fury over homes crisis

Gaby Hinsliff, Observer

06/04/08

Wave of Labour rebellion over minister's proposals

Inside Housing

14/03/08

Home truths

Simon Brandon, Inside Housing

22/02/08

Flints idea so stupid its frightening

Martin Hilditch , Inside Housing

08/02/08

Tenants groups enraged by Flints draconian speech

Martin Hilditch , Inside Housing

08/02/08

That sound? Labour's hard nuts are alive and whistling

John Harris, Guardian

08/02/08

Joined-up thinking on housing and jobs (letters)

various, Guardian

06/02/08

Housing homeless is a duty, say Flint opponents

Patrick Wintour, Guardian

06/02/08

To link council tenancy with jobseeking feeds the stigma

Lynsey Hanley, Guardian

06/02/08

Charities attack proposals to make council house tenants look for work

Jill Sherman, Times

06/02/08

Workhouse social policy

Adam Sampson, New Statesman

06/02/08

Property Badder

Kevin Maguire, Daily Mirror

06/02/08

Home truths

Leader, Guardian

06/02/08

Homes alone

Bob Roberts, Daily Mirror

06/02/08

Avoid return to workhouse

Adam Sampson, Daily Mirror

06/02/08

PM gives Housing Minister Caroline Flint cold shoulder over 'boot out' jobless idea

Bob Roberts, Daily Mirror

06/02/08

'Work or lose home' says minister

BBC

05/02/08

The cart before the house

Adam Sampson, Guardian

05/02/08

Anger at 'find work' ultimatum for tenants

Independent

05/02/08

Labour: if you want a council house, find a job

Patrick Wintour, Guardian

05/02/08

Council tenants 'outraged' at housing minister's employment contract plans

24dash

05/02/08

No 10 plays down Flint's social housing plan

Rosalind Ryan and Andrew Sparrow , Guardian Unlimited

05/02/08

Call for security of tenure to be case-by-case

Inside Housing

01/02/08

Warning over one million homes at risk

Jill Treanor , Guardian

30/01/08

The grim repo: 1.28m sub-prime US homes threatened by bailiffs

Andrew Clark , Guardian

30/01/08

Supply, Mobility and Opportunity

Inside Housing

14/12/07

Cooper outlines her vision

Emily Rogers , Inside Housing

14/12/07

'People, not just houses'

Yvette Cooper , CLG

12/12/07

Sub-prime lending undermining home ownership

Citizens Advice

12/12/07

Tougher tactics to tackle estate-based worklessness

Inside Housing

07/12/07

Freeing up more social homes is more important than building new ones....

Inside Housing

04/10/07

Labour grassroots ready to fight for security of tenure

Martin Hilditch, Inside Housing

14/09/07

Labour grassroots ready to fight for security of tenure

Martin Hilditch , Inside Housing

13/09/07

Housing market at high risk from shock

Housing market at high risk from shock, Financial Times

30/07/07

Charity backs PM's housing pledge

BBC

15/07/07

Huge increase in those forced to default on mortgages payments

Martin Hickman, Independent

11/07/07

Post-2010 backlog to cost £1.2bn

Martin Hilditch , Inside Housing

15/06/07

The crisis in Britain's housing

Anindya Bhattacharyya, Socialist Worker

12/06/07

Let's be fair on the home front

Richard Hammond, Daily Mirror

09/06/07

Millions could be paying off mortgages in old age

Sharlene Goff , Financial Times

02/06/07

Home improvements

Karen Day, Public Finance

04/05/07

Building a future

Ruth Kelly, Guardian Comment

30/03/07

Give us a real choice

Alan Walter, Guardian

29/03/07

Home delivery

Adam Sampson, Guardian

28/03/07

The great generational robbery

Faisal Islam, New Statesman

05/03/07

Council housing's true worth

Lynsey Hanley, Observer (letters)

04/03/07

Comment Grasping the housing nettle

John Perry, Public Finance

02/03/07

Respectable rebel

Kate Murray, Inside Housing

01/03/07

Hills summary of tenant discontent is challenged

Anita Pati , Inside Housing

01/03/07

Don't patronise us - build us more homes (Letters)

Austin Mitchell MP, John and Sharon Marais..., Observer

25/02/07

Social housing should give tenants broader choices

Public Finance

23/02/07

Equity stake plan could bring big repair bills for marginal owners

Inside Housing

23/02/07

Seeds of change (Hills Interview)

Inside Housing

23/02/07

An equitable answer? (Hills Interview)

Alison Benjamin, Guardian

21/02/07

We need to bulldoze bad council estates

Bob Roberts, Mirror

21/02/07

We need to buldoze bad council estates

Bob Roberts, Daily Mirror

21/02/07

Plan to break up council estates

Andy McSmith, Independent

21/02/07

BUILD A FUTURE

Editorial, Mirror

21/02/07

Housing horror is a betratal of the poor

Sue Carroll , Mirror

21/02/07

A study that must not be shelved

Editorial, Independent

21/02/07

Councils may put time limit on tenants

Rosemary Bennett, The Times

20/02/07

Report backs end to secure council tenancies

Matt Weaver, Society Guardian

20/02/07

It will take real courage to solve our housing crisis

Steve Richards, Independent

20/02/07

'Support Council Housing'

Mirror

20/02/07

Tenants' choice

Alan Walter, Society Guardian

20/02/07

Council Housing Shake-Up to Create

Mirror

20/02/07

Speech by Ruth Kelly MP at the launch

DCLG Press Release

20/02/07

What is the future of social housing?

BBC Radio 4 Today Programme

20/02/07

Professor John Hills urged to 'stand up for council housing'

24dash.com

20/02/07

Professor John Hills urged to 'stand up for council housing'

24 Dash

20/02/07

Housing plan calls for better mix

BBC

20/02/07

Defend Council Housing speaks out ahead of John Hills' report

24dash

19/02/07

Shelter in the storm

Angela Phillips , Guardian Comment

19/02/07

3 million tenants face boot

Bob Roberts, Daily Mirror

19/02/07

3 Million tenants face boot

Bob Roberts , Mirror

19/02/07

Estate of Shock

Bob Roberts, Mirror

19/02/07

Ten per cent - a little piece of home

Huma Qureshi , Observer

18/02/07

Open the gates and free people from Britain's ghettos

Will Hutton, Observer

18/02/07

Kelly calls for wider home ownership

Public Finance

16/02/07

Minister calls for housing help

BBC

14/02/07

Tenants spurn chance to be home-owners

Jill Sherman, The Times

14/02/07

An NHS for housing

Lynsey Hanley , Guardian

14/02/07

An NHS for housing

Lynsey Hanley, Guardian

14/02/07

Ruth Kelly unveils 'right to own' plan for social housing tenants

Times

13/02/07

Social housing tenants to be helped on to property ladder

Patrick Wintour, Guardian

13/02/07

Social housing tenants to be helped on to property ladder

Patrick Wintour, Guardian

13/02/07

Ruth Kelly: The future of housing policy

Ruth Kelly Speech, Fabian Society

13/02/07

Defend Council Housing slams Ruth Kelly's speech

Times

13/02/07

A time for change

Rebecca Evans, Inside Housing

30/06/06

Lifelong tenancy reform could threaten social sustainability

Inside Housing

06/08/04

Home for life under threat

Inside Housing

30/07/04

Latest attack on council housing principles

The latest attacks on 'secure' tenancies comes from the Chartered Institute of Housing. Their Rethinking housing report (Oct 2008) argues that when tenants' circumstances improve they should either move into the private sector (private renting or home ownership) or pay market rents. The CIH was so shocked that tenants and others objected that they issued an immediate 'open letter'. See key extract (below) and press coverage (left).

Housing Minister, Margaret Beckett, has responded by telling Parliament "I am not at all sympathetic to the notion that council housing residents should somehow lose their security of tenure." She also told the great and the good of the housing world attending a Smith Institute seminar "social housing will always be a vital resource for the vulnerable; but it needs to be more than just that. It should not just be there in times of crisis: it needs to provide better opportunities and support." (11/11/08)

See DCH initial response, follow up and Beckett dismisses tenancy for life speculation.

Government is planning a new Housing Reform Green Paper (expected December). Anothert report by the New Local Government Network recommends market rents, the end of secure tenancies, forcing elderly tenants to leave their family homes once their children grow up, and intrusive ‘advice sessions’ for tenants designed to bully them into the private sector. All wrapped up in the extraordinary and totally unsupported claim that this has something to do with ‘tenant empowerment’ (Tenant Empowerment: What the new regulatory regime must deliver, New Local Government Network, October 2008). The author of the report is a director of Pinnacle - a profit-making company which argued in 2006 that security of tenure should be taken away so that companies like Pinnacle could benefit from increased land values on our estates (see history below).

Attacks on the unique 'secure' tenancies that council tenants won in 1979 after a determined campaign are never far away. Those who are opposed in principle to high quality public services available to all and who want everyone forced into the hands of the private market are determined to undermine and weaken the position of council tenants. Stigmatising council housing as 'housing of last resort' is one method. Trying to take away our 'secure' tenancies or impose means testing or time limits is another.

Key extract from CIH report

"If an individuals circumstances have improved, and have changed in a sustained way, we would suggest that it is right and fair that there is a menu of options to choose from, but that the existing terms and conditions are not an option:
· Advice and support to unlock LCHO options (see following recommendations on this), including savings support (which should be aligned with any model provided to tenants in the private rented sector and people saving for their first home).
· Advice about private rental options.
· Advice about full ownership.
· A change of conditions in existing home – e.g. rent increase towards a more market level (which could be reinvested in better services or more homes) if the individual does not want to move or pursue other options. Any such change would need to have an appropriate taper so as not to provide a disincentive for individuals to seek employment or improve their circumstances and would naturally need to be aligned so that it is cost neutral with regards housing benefit. As the HRA review is underway, this could be a timely opportunity to revisit rents’ policies more widely.
Existing tenants
We recognise that there it would not necessarily be possible to put these measures in place on a statutory basis in relation to existing tenancies, but they could be implemented for all new lets and re-lets. This would create a two tier system for some time as existing social tenants end their tenancies or move to new agreements. However, it is possible to help existing tenants to make progress – offering the same support system as is available to new tenants. It is also possible to make good use of customer insight and use this to make appropriate offers."
(Rethinking Housing, page 22-23, CIH October 2008)

In the name of 'choice' the CIH joins government in driving people into home ownership and is looking for legislation to change tenancy conditions and use the Review of Council Housing Finance to push council rents up to the level of market rents to achive this goal.

A short history

In July 2006 the Smith Institute published a pamphlet Rethinking Social Housing which argued all social housing encouraged dependancy and so tenants should be forced into the private market by introducing means testing and time limits on secure tenancies.

On 13 Feb 2007 Secretary of State Ruth Kelly followed up with a Fabian 'The Future of Housing Policy' Lecture talking about 'helping' tenants into home ownership by giving us "10% stakes". (Defend Council Housing slams Ruth Kelly's speech). The speech was deliberately timed a week before Professor John Hills was due to publish the results of his 'Review of Social Housing'.

On 20 February 2007 Professor John Hills published his Ends & Means report on the ‘Role of Social Housing’. To his credit he refused to recommend an end to 'secure' tenancies. See DCH's response to the Hills report.

In February 2008, almost exactly a year after Ruth Kelly's lecture, Housing Minister Caroline Flint gave a Fabian Lecture We must break link between council housing and worklessness calling for tenants to sign up to 'commitment contracts' (Council tenants condemn Flint's statement).

See DCH's response to John Hills' Ends & Means report in Feb 2007.