Forum Topic

Ealing Council’s waiting list masterstroke

So Ealing Council will halve it’s waiting list for social housing by simply reclassifying those on the list. That’s quite some chutzpah from a supposedly socialist local authority. Is it more to do with failing to build proper council housing for those most in need? Preferring instead the so-called ‘affordable’ model, which is unaffordable for many on the list.Just 500 or so Council let properties now, despite the fact that all local authorities have had the funds and the permission to build new ‘proper’ council housing for years. I wonder how many will be left a decade from now?

Simon Hayes ● 1322d22 Comments

The Lobotomised Lemmings will keep voting LBE Labour back in though, including almost certainly the vast majority of those who are going to suffer negatively from this decision.Takes a special kind of intellect that does ........ 😁

Rosco White ● 1321d

If you are going to characterise your neighbours as 'Lobotomised Lemmings' it might help to have a coherent argument and a basic grasp of the facts. Reducing the housing list is just a recognition of how bad the shortage of social housing is and is sensible as it is recognising that people in the lower categories have zero chance of being housed. If you look at social housing building across London, Ealing performs very well in comparison with other boroughs. The article linked to below shows it as ranked third in London in the proportion of new builds with nearly half being social housing or provided by Housing Associations. Some councils, including Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat built zero social housing during the year and some (none Labour) have built nothing for the last two years. Therefore, the residents of Ealing, seem to be voting entirely rationally if social housing is the main concern. https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/which-are-the-best-and-worst-performing-councils-for-social-housing-delivery-in-london.html Anyone claiming this is a straightforward, uncomplex issue is either being deliberately misleading or doesn't understand the subject. The very unwelcome tall towers sprouting up across the borough are a result of the pressure on the council to deliver more housing stock. Ealing is actually doing well about hitting social housing targets and ill-thought out criticisms of cosmetic changes supported by nodding dogs only happy when something bad is said about the council, can't mask that.  Such arguments are misplaced when there are far more serious issues to be concerned about such as the Local Plan which is removing a huge amount of protection for the borough's green space, the hidden leverage in Broadway Living and the over close relationship the council has with developers and A2Dominion.

Gordon Southwell ● 1321d

Specious twaddle from  someone who is all too swift to leap to the defence of the maladministration which hasls occupied Ealing Town Hall for the last 13 years. If Ealing was serious about delivering more housing stock  they wouldn't be falling over themselves to appease developers, developers, they would have insisted on a greater social housing mix within new developments and they would at least have published development plans without being castigated by the local government ombudsman for failing to do so. It would be good if people stop defending The indefensible.

N V Brooks ● 1321d

Did you actually read my post to the end or have a look at the information provided in the link?

Gordon Southwell ● 1321d

Read in full and links followed. Nothing there that changes my view Only incompetent administration that  occupies the town hall.

N V Brooks ● 1321d

Mr. Southwell provided a link which showed  some surprising statistics , Ealing being fourth in London of social housing being completed so "specious twaddle" I don't think so.Perhaps look at someone's contribution objectively rather than through blue tinted glasses.

David Burke ● 1321d

Predictably, the second part of the labour can do no wrong turns up. Bein fourth h in a list of underachievement is hardly something to crow about.

N V Brooks ● 1321d

If you have read Gordon's post, as you claim, you clearly have been incapable of understanding it.

Tricia Arbuthnot ● 1321d

They are not delivering anywhere near enough social housing despite what the article seems to say. Using percentages rather than actual numbers is skyways a giveaway when it comes to unreliable statistics. There’s also a big difference between affordable rent and social rent, while ‘affordable housing’ is beyond the means of those who really need it. Considering the amount of development in the borough the council’s performance is poor.As Gordon Southwell points out it’s concerning to know of the leverage required for Broadway Living, with a £400m loan underwritten by Ealing taxpayers. Much of the council’s supposed social housing provision is reliant on BL’s two key developments being built, at Perceval House and Gurnell. The former will incorporate a 26 storey tower in the heart of Ealing Broadway, while the latter will tear up a big chunk of Metropolitan Open Land.Whether any of this gets built is a moot point, as Cllr Manro indicates last year. Construction costs have soared, which could make some projects unviable, at least as far as social housing is concerned.Of course, there is a four bedroom property in Acton that could house a deserving family. They’d just have to prise it out of Julian Bell’s sweaty paws first!

Simon Hayes ● 1321d

How ruddy patronising madam. Ealing has a track record of blaming every external factor whereas many of the failures stem from their own incompetent handling, notably of budgets. Coming fourth in deliverables when the bar is set so low is is, as I said, no achievement.

N V Brooks ● 1321d

It is depressing how many people see things in such binary terms that they lose sight of the broader issue. In a set determination to give Ealing Council credit for absolutely nothing, the risk is that they will miss the broader negatives about the borough's policies. No objective person would say that the council's performance on new housing starts hasn't been quite impressive. If you put this in the context of the relatively high proportion of social rent properties developed it seems likely to me that the borough has provided one of the highest, if not the highest amount of this kind of much needed housing. League tables must be available somewhere and I'll stand corrected if this proves not to be the case. While acknowledging this success, people need to be aware of the price that has been paid and may be paid in the future. The council has come to accommodations with developers which placed the interests of future residents ahead of existing residents, they have accelerated the population density of the borough and approved a whole raft of tall towers which will transfer the skyline and the nature of the area not necessarily for the better. The looming danger is that they have got on a bicycle that they have to keep pedalling fast or they will fall over — the pace of development needs to be maintained even though every year fewer suitable sites will be available and those that can be acquired will be more expensive. The accounts of Broadway Living are opaque but we know that lots of leverage sits in there and we know that interest rates are rising. The pressure on the council to build may already be apparent in the Local Plan changes in which large scale encroachment on Green Belt and Metropolitan Open Land is envisaged.  What are the chances that the 'Ealing Council can do no right' brigade have not even bothered to respond to the consultation on the Local Plan?

Gordon Southwell ● 1320d

Of course I responded, if only to comment on the 113 sites identified as potential  development sites for blocks of varying sizes. Doubtless very few of these will be affordable social housing of the type needed by the residents of Ealing seeking to raise a family. It is rther difficult to see it as anything other tnan binary when the 'achivements' crowed about are mired in mediocrity. As I posted coming fourth  in a league table of abject failure  is no achievement.Do take off the blinkers and look at the repeated failure of councils of all hues trying to play property developer. Not one to my knowledge has failed to lose tens if not hundreds of millions of pounds of residents money. They should focus on core services among which is ensuring that those developments within their desmense actually meet the housing needs of those whom they are supposedly elected to serve.

N V Brooks ● 1319d

So far every consultation has been full of loaded questions and will get brushed aside by 'the decision maker'I was astonished by the recent revelations of the Ulez Q&A with the Mayor slithering and squirming and his utter arrogance of I am the Decision Maker but at the same time unable to have a clue about almost everything asked.I'm afraid the problem with the wrong kind of housing and all the social issues that are going to land on the plates of future generations comes from the same arrogance and letting politics slide into such a mire obscuring pragmatism and genuine innovation for the better completely.The delusion and sheer destruction of London makes me wonder if having a Mayor is not our greatest gaffe ever.

Raymond Havelock ● 1319d

Excellent, well said Mr Havelock.There was a petition doing the rounds to rid London of that megalomaniac khan.Unfortunately I could only sign once

Peter Yale ● 1319d

‘What are the chances that the 'Ealing Council can do no right' brigade have not even bothered to respond to the consultation on the Local Plan?’Well, Gordon, the chances of not responding to the Local Plan are zero. You seem most put out that your Labour Council is embarking on a course of destroying large swathes of green belt and MOL. Perhaps if you’d paid more attention you’d know that there are plenty here who have been warning against this for years, even some who are natural Labour supporters.

Simon Hayes ● 1319d

Yep, the intelligent and informed Labour Voters abandoned Ealing Council Labour looooong ago. Ealing Council Labour smugly marches on though, they have plenty of turkeys who love voting for Christmas.  😂

Rosco White ● 1319d

Well maybe you  need to get your marching boots on and do some door knocking to convince the misguided voters of Ealing of the error of their ways.LOL !

David Burke ● 1319d

Well, if you find thirteen years of maladministation, kowtowing to developers and simply failing to deliver something about which to laugh, it speaks volumes.  People are simply not engaged with local politics in Ealing which is why it only ytakes a few 'blitzes' by Labour activists to perpetuate the nighmare and ensure that the cabal retain their positions at the feeding trough.

N V Brooks ● 1319d

Correct, N V Brooks.And if I do go door knocking, how do I deal with an "intellect" that says, "I ALWAYS Vote Labour", without caring or having a scintilla of knowledge, let alone understanding, about how Ealing Council Labour is trashing our once beautiful suburb?Also, "Family Voting" anyone?  😉

Rosco White ● 1319d

New rules are in place requiring photo id so some sharp practices will be hopefully reduced.Last year’s local election saw Labour concentrate almost exclusively on Boris Johnson and how we should ‘teach him a lesson’. Almost zero information about policy or much in the way of what they’ve achieved in a dozen years.Of course they got in and taught Boris that lesson. Then the Labour cohort voted immediately to award themselves massive increases in allowances, despite ongoing cuts to services elsewhere. Some priorities mixed up there.

Simon Hayes ● 1319d

It must be a comfort for the plebs at Perceval House to know that they have a battalion of councillors in Southall ready to go anywhere in the borough to vote on matters they know nothing about.

Peter King ● 1318d

I'm also thinking of the hypothetical scenario where the Head of The Extended Family gathers the forms from the younger, old, infirm and female members of The Extended Family.........and Postal Votes for them. 😉

Rosco White ● 1318d