?Greater protection for tenants, more affordable homes and renovation of empty properties are among the many ideas put forward by the Green Party this week, as housing policy became the focus of campaigning in the upcoming Mayor of London and London Assembly elections.??Recent statistics show that Islington has over 1851 empty properties, 51% of which have been empty for more than 6months.
"You can sum up our housing priorities for London in one word: affordability," said Caroline Allen, Green Assembly candidate for the North East London constituency.
"It’s obvious to everyone that London needs to build more affordable homes, that rents need to be affordable, and that homes need to be more affordable to run. Housing policies at borough council level need a complete overhaul, and fresh ideas from the Greens will inject some much-needed new thinking into how to solve London’s housing problems."
The scandal of empty properties has recently been highlighted by campaigners in Hackney, with occupations of neglected council properties. Greens would create a clearing house system to make publicly owned empty homes available to be brought back into use by self-help co-operatives, and encourage private owners to list their properties on the system.
Caroline said:
"It’s shocking to see properties lying empty while thousands of families are on waiting lists. Leaving houses empty not only deprives people of a decent roof over their heads but it ends up costing more money in the longer term to bring empty houses back into use.?"Properties are left unoccupied for many reasons, but more often than not this is for long-term economic gain. Landlords and owners should be encouraged to keep residential properties in use."
The Greens’ target for building affordable homes is 15,000 per year, with 40% of these to be family-sized. On the issue of rents, the Greens have taken inspiration from the growing success of the campaign for a London Living Wage, and proposed an officially-recognised London Affordable Rent, based on average earnings and household size. And to make homes more affordable to run, there will be more help for Londoners to insulate their homes and drive down fuel bills.
NOTES TO EDITORS
?1) The Green Party has published a ‘mini-manifesto’ detailing its policies on housing. The full text is below:
LET’S MAKE HOUSING AFFORDABLE?We will build genuinely affordable housing and refurbish over one million homes to cut energy bills. We will push to give private tenants more security and stabilise rent levels. We want to change the housing market from a playground for speculative investment to a source of secure, affordable homes. ??1. Build genuinely affordable homes?Build at least 15,000 affordable homes per year, of which 40% will be family sized. Calculate an annual London Affordable Rent for the average household and use public land to keep rents at or below that cap.??2. Build homes that are affordable to run?Ensure all homes are actually built to high energy and water efficiency standards with enhanced building control checks, making them affordable to run as well as rent or buy.??3. End fuel poverty and cut carbon emissions?Roll out the RE:NEW home insulation scheme to over one million homes in London by 2015, helping people to install simple measures and to access the Green Deal, and work with councils and housing associations to bring all social housing up to an enhanced Decent Homes standard by 2016.??4. Help co-operatives build more housing?Establish the London Mutual Housing Company to help communities set-up Community Land Trusts, which will give them control over the design, development and management of permanently affordable homes.??5. Help co-ops restore empty homes?Set-up a clearing house to make all suitable publicly owned empty homes available to be brought back into short-life or permanent use by self-help co-operatives, and encourage private owners to list their properties on the system.??6. Protect the rights of private tenants?Lobby for comprehensive and smart reforms of the private rented sector to bring down rents, make tenants more secure in their homes with a default secure five year tenancy agreement, protect tenants from exploitative landlords and improve the condition of private rented housing. Guarantee these rights for homes built on public land and with public money.??7. Create an Ethical Lettings Agency ?Set-up an ethical lettings agency for private tenants and landlords, and a web site for tenants to post feedback on landlords and letting/managing agents.??8. Protect the rights of tenants?Oppose all elements of the Government’s housing agenda that weaken security, raise rents for social tenants, and that reduces housing benefits for private and social tenants instead of reducing rents.??9. End rough sleeping?Bring all grants for pan-London homelessness services into the GLA to protect frontline services, and work closely with homelessness organisations to ensure nobody needs to spend a second night out sleeping rough on the street.??10. Campaign for root and branch reform?Use our influence and new research to build momentum behind radical reforms such as land value taxation and a ban on foreign investors, solutions which could stabilise house prices. Our housing crisis will only deepen if we fail to fix the roots of the problem.
ENDS
