News from Westminster Labour

Westminster will not build new social rented flats to replace 175 sold off

None of the 175 social rented Council flats that Westminster City Council plans to sell over the next three years under the Right to Buy will be replaced by a new social rented flat, according to Labour Councillors who say that the Government promise to replace every social rented property sold with a new one is completely bogus and a total misrepresentation of the facts.

In addition to the loss of 175 social rented flats, every flat sold will get a £75,000 subsidy from taxpayers, representing a £13 million loss to the public purse.

Labour Councillors say that they have been told by Westminster Council housing officials that;

“Receipts from RTB sales can fund no more than 30% of the development costs of a new home. The Government’s assumption is that new homes will be Affordable Rent properties – which can be charged at up to 80% of market rent.”

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, said; “This latest Conservative stunt is a double whammy for those in housing need and for hard-pressed tax payers on low incomes who will see their chances of a home they can afford disappear out of site. The Conservatives claim that every home sold will be replaced by a new one. But the reality is completely different, with low rent social housing for those on low incomes replaced by flats at rents at 80% of market rents. Everyone knows that these sub-market rent rents are not affordable for those on low incomes. This misrepresentation by Conservative Ministers and Conservative Councillors is deliberate as they know that there is no justification for selling off social rented homes at at a £75,000 discount and replacing them with higher rented flats which those on low incomes cannot afford. In Central London this is a recipe for misery and despair.”

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