We understand that Wandsworth, a Tory flagship council, has begun an eviction process against a mother whose teenage son has been charged, but not even convicted. It is highly dubious whether there is a legal basis for this, and there is certainly no justice in singling out tenants in this way.

Eileen Short, chair of Defend Council Housing, said:
The proposal amounts to the victimisation of council tenants. Council housing is not subsidised and we are not second class citizens to whom different laws should apply. Failure to invest in council housing and the stigmatising of council tenants have already fed into the alienation of young people on our estates. It makes a mockery of tenancy law to give landlords such sweeping powers to evict.

Councils already have powers to deal with nuisance behaviour affecting neighbours within council estates. The criminal law is there to punish those who do commit crimes. It is an offence against natural justice to single out one particular group, council tenants, for the additional drastic penalty of losing their homes.