SHERIDAN SLAMS LABOUR FOR WITHHOLDING £1 BILLION FOR COUNCIL HOUSE INVESTMENTTommy Sheridan, Scottish Socialist Party MSP and National Convenor, today slammed the Labour Party in Scotland and at a UK level for its deliberate withholding of almost one billion pounds of council house investment between May 1997 and February 2003.
By refusing to rescind the Tory capital receipt set-aside rules, which were introduced by Michael Forsyth as Tory Scottish Secretary in 1996, Labour have denied £964 million worth of potential investment in council housing from council house sales. The set aside rules force local authorities to use 75% of any capital receipts from council house sales to pay off their capital housing debt, rather than investing in new homes or in renovating and improving existing ones.
Between May 1997 and February 2003, local authorities in Scotland would have been able to invest £964 million in their council housing stock if they had been allowed to spend all their receipts from council house sales. This would have provided 350,000 tenants in Scotland with central heating, double glazing and new roofs. It would also have generated over 13,000 new jobs.
Sheridan said,
“Labour’s record in relation to municipal housing is a disgrace. By sticking with Tory rules on council house sale receipts, which they vehemently opposed before 1997, they have denied almost one billion pounds of public housing investment to local authorities throughout Scotland. Our party opposes council house sales, but if they are taking place, the receipts from these sales should be used by local authorities to renovate and improve their remaining housing stock. New Labour have denied this opportunity to local authorities and thereby prevented £964 million worth of investment over the last six years. Such an investment could have radically improved the homes of 350,000 tenants and created over 13,000 jobs. New Labour are vehemently anti-council housing and by sticking to Tory housing policies, they have condemned thousands of tenants to years’ more discomfort in poor quality homes.”
Sheridan further highlighted the problem with the council house sale policy, which has resulted in 230,000 council homes being sold since 1989 and 5,000 Housing Association homes sold over the same period. However, only 48,000 public sector homes have been built to try and replace the 235,000 homes lost. And of the public sector houses built, only 500 have been new council houses. In the last five years, discounts to tenants across the UK to allow them to purchase public sector homes has amounted to £4.5 billion. This is a massive subsidy to allow the privatisation of public sector homes, but only a fraction of this amount has been spent in replacing these homes and that is why there is such a housing shortage in the public sector throughout Scotland and the UK.
Tommy Sheridan said,
“We agree with Shelter, the organisation for the homeless, which has previously referred to the right to buy discount scheme as “a catastrophic waste of taxpayers’ money”. Instead of selling off public housing stock, the Scottish Parliament should provide rental discounts to reward long term tenants and allow them to live in their council homes rent-free after 15 years’ continuous tenancy. This policy would both reward long term tenants and retain good quality public sector housing stock for future generations.”
[ends]
For more information, contact Tommy Sheridan on 07887 795075 or Hugh Kerr on 0131 348 5631/07713 063647
