Tue 4 Jun 2019, 10:46 AM | Posted by editor
LETTER from Bob Edwards, Harlow Labour Party.
I live in a lovely one-bedroom flat on the third-floor of a tower block in Harlow. It overlooks a built-around farm, nowadays a rugby club with rugby posts spring up where sheep used to roam, and even a family of foxes. Never mind, it is a haven to me, especially with lifts that usually work and a caretaker service. The tower was the last bock planned by (Sir) Fred Gibberd who didn’t want his six blocks of flats, built in the late fifties, to dominate the skyline. Our block does, especially when coming into Harlow off the M11.
Because council houses and flats were such a pleasant bargain for working class people, compared to the exploitation of the private sector, Thatcher went on an asset-stripping spree of selling them off as fast as she could. Some councils even tried to tempt council tenants to transfer whole estates over to housing associations, offering all sorts of inducements, though many council tenants were wise not to fall for ‘Greeks bearing gifts’.
What happened to the money from the sale of council houses? It was not invested in more council houses or flats. The money disappeared – tax cuts for the rich, I suspect. But what houses and flats remain are ageing. Some are nearly a hundred years old, even in our ‘new’ town they are 60 or 70 years old.
Some council housing has been modernised, but in my block the kitchens, bathrooms and heating are the same as when they were built in the 50s. The heating has parts that are no longer made, so cannot be replaced. It’s a totally redundant system, but it’s still there. I’m having increasing difficulty in my 70s, in getting in an out of a bath, but my request for a shower was ‘listened to’ but not acted on. It would have been a real blessing to me, but this is where austerity strikes. After many visits to my flat and high-level discussions I reluctantly agreed to have a new heating system. To be honest, I’m not a lover of radiators replacing my wonderful hot air system. What finally persuaded me was that if I didn’t agree then the rest of the block wouldn’t be replaced either!
But all that was two years ago. Since then my hot water system has packed in – and they can’t get the parts. I have doubled my hot water capacity by buying a second kettle, a 30-bob bargain in a charity shop! And I’ve paid to have an electric shower installed, so it doesn’t depend on the missing the hot water. The council still aren’t sure how long it will be before we get a new heating system. After all, we’ve all got to make sacrifices! The money is not as available, is it? Is it because there are fewer council houses to sell off? Or maybe the ‘well to do’ are paying too much tax and need more help!
The council are now putting in single mums with one or two toddlers into our tower block. We’ve got no gardens! I met a young fellow with a wife and two children in a flat. “I’ll vote for anyone who’ll re-house us!” he said. He’d had a council house which he’d attempted to buy, got made redundant and lost it! He now wants a second try! I know an unemployed fellow council-tenant who wanted to buy his flat. “£50,000, Bob!” he said, “I could re-sell it for £100,000!” “Where will you live?” I asked him. “With fifty grand in my pocket any woman would take me in!” “No”, I said, “you’re the one being taken in!”
From a working class point of view council housing is the most secure housing you can get. As long as you don’t abuse it, you’ve got security for life. Tragically, much that has been bought is returning to the private sector, often with multi-tenancies two per room, bunk beds, six per house. No way is this solving the housing crisis. It’s getting worse. Did anyone really think Rachman was a thing of the past? Forward for a socialist housing policy! End profit from housing! Decent homes for all as a right!
