30 June 2012
DCH National Meeting – Trades & Labour Club Sheffield
Approx 40 people present – from Leeds, Sheffield, Harlow, Southwark, Lambeth,
Tower Hamlets, Birmingham, Broxtowe, Scottish Unison, Bolsover, NE Derbyshire,
North West
Chair : Eileen Short
1. Intro: DCH is a bottom up, tenant led organisation, with affiliations from key
Trade Unions. All organising is open to anyone; there is a national committee.
Housing is a top political issue currently and Govt policies are savaging
council and private tenants. So far response has been slow and Labour Party
is not far behind Govt in terms of their support for privatisation. Some good
campaigns on the go e.g. demands that Local Authorities do not use the fixed
term tenancies; do not evict people not able to pay market rents; campaign
set up by Occupy movement – Housing for the 99%; in Norwich and
Cambridge a campaign involving both council and private tenants. So, how
does DCH operate within the bigger picture? TUs are discussing marches.
The worst issues affecting people are – capping of HB, self financing that
provides inadequate funding and pursues debt, large rent rises, proposals for
demolition where major repairs are going to be too costly.
2. Local reports:
 Leeds – rents will go up 25% over 4 years; the impact of the Welfare Reform
Bill means that the council will lose millions in rent. Council knows that it will
only be able to manage day to day repairs – no capital work. Where they had
been helping tenants to ‘down size’ voluntarily, this has now stopped.
 Sheffield – Massive debt so can only maintain stock; no new build. Only
positive result recently is that the ALMO has gone back to direct mgt by the
council. Debt is a fallacy. Original money borrowed to build housing has been
paid back years ago. In 1970s and 1980s, money was borrowed off Govt but
was not spent on housing. Re. Right to Buy – DCH take the line that every
house to be replaced like for like or better, but NOT at market rents.
 Southwark – Massive debt; massive cut in Govt funding. Rents have gone up
by 8%. Still paying off debt for housing that is now being demolished. Should
bring contractors back in-house.
 Harlow council has taken on £210m HRA debt. No guarantee it can be paid.
Housing minister Grant Shapps has written to local paper promoting RTB. His
assertion that RTB will not diminish stock as each house will be replaced, is
nonsense when there are going to be 75% discounts. At GMB conference,
was stated that few councils (Cambridge, Ipswich, Slough, Bournemouth)
planning to build council housing under self-financing
 NE Derbyshire - £194m debt; if only had to pay the interest, would mean there
could be new house-building. Question – if there could be some sort of
ALMO, that would mean the debt could be avoided but stock still retained by
council? No, not possible as if stock owned by council is still a debt, if stock
not owned by council, then it is not council, public housing.
 North West – The Govt plan is to replace council housing; is all part of the
globalisation, privatisation agenda. Universal Credit is going to have negative
impact on councils who retain their stock. Skelmersdale is one of very few
LAs to have council housing. There is lack of accountability in Housing Assoc.
Cuts to small grants that LAs give out to local groups mean that many groups
are folding. Tenants are struggling to make voices heard.
 Scotland – Right to Buy for new council housing is finished. Scottish Govt has
a policy ‘Firm Foundations’ around housing issues. However rents up, but
there is a bit of new build. Also ‘Buy Backs’ of some council houses.
 Leeds – some criminal activity around groups getting tenants to sign contracts
to take over the house and then renting it back off new owners??
 Harlow – private l/lords buying property to make into HMOs to house East
Europeans. Need to fight back, need to use the power of the trade unions.
 ES – good if we could get some useful information about progressive
elements of Scottish policies.
 PB – Cameron has absolutely U-turned on pre election promises – not to
touch secure tenancies, attacking under -25s, implying that people do not
have a right to a home. We need to get a ‘Coalition of Interest’ on why we
should have a home of our own. Need petitions, Early Day Motions etc.
 Leeds –there is a split in local Labour Party – one section wants to bring the
ALMOs back in house; the Chair, though, does not intend to implement.
3. Speaker – Joan Miller – Climate Change – Campaign for 1million climate
jobs, backed by 4 major TUs. Jonathan Neale, Marxist analysis; should be
state led intervention. Could be 200,000 jobs in built environment; concentrate
on insulation of properties; would stimulate economy; residents would have
lower energy bills; Unison has written a document called the New Green
Team which contains numerous examples of good practice such as
Wrexham. Birmingham made particularly good use of the funds available
through CERT; UCU keen on training people in Green Technology/Alternative
energy sources. Need to revive manufacturing capacity in UK
Some discussion about District Heating – pros and cons of some current
systems.
4. ALMOs – Paul Burnham – DCH position has always been that ALMOs are a
2 step process to privatisation. Many LAs used ALMOs as a means to access
funding for Decent Homes. Now that this advantage has gone, no point to
ALMOs. This Govt is keen that ALMOs go on to become Housing
Associations. Current position is that 50 ALMOs manage about 40% of
council housing stock.11 ALMOs recently closed - 6 have gone to HAs. We
should campaign to get all remaining ALMOs back in-house. Look at options
appraisals. Newest idea being floated is of CO – Cos- Durham and
Gloucester looking at this model. Nat Fed of ALMOs is keen to get out of
public sector.
Leeds – their ALMOs – recently a Freedom of Info request about viewing the
balance sheet of ALMOs was refused. Believe there is an expensive pension
scheme being funded out of HRA allocation
Sheffield – campaign was run on 3 main advantages of in-house mgt –
accountability, cost, anti- privatisation. Campaigners lobbied consultation
events, meetings, fly posted estates, did letters to local papers, talks on local
radio, demos outside Town Hall etc. Also helped that the Council’s preference
was for the in-house option. Some tenants sceptical of council motives;
needed to emphasise that we were defending the principle of public sector
services across the board; had to be careful with GMB/Unison workers that
we were not advocating redundancies. Stock is to come back in-house a year
earlier than end of contract – so in April 2013
5. Speakers from S. Yorks Migration & Asylum Action Group (SYMAAG) –
Robert Spooner from ASSIST spoke of campaign for ‘Decent Housing for All’.
Sheffield CC has lost the contract for housing asylum seekers, now taken
over by G4S – biggest security firm in world – who won contract. Will end up
housing asylum seekers far from support networks – schools, friends, doctors
and in poorly maintained, unregulated cheap accommodation. G4S have
shocking record – manslaughter charges, numerous serious complaints.
Danger that as G4S already run many services – prisons, police – they could
get into business of social housing as well. United Property Mgt – a sub
contractor of G4S has been thrown off the contract after local campaign.
There needs to be public resistance to slum private sector housing. Called for
support for Jeremy Corbyn’s EDM 182. Former Labour Minister, John Reid,
has a position on board of G4S.
Comments – need to develop arguments to put to council tenants showing
that asylum seekers are victims of Govt housing policy too. Would help if
ASSIST can produce a leaflet
6. Housing Emergency Campaign - the Govt is waging all out war – see all
previously noted policies – fixed term tenancies, HB capped, HAs can put up
to 10% of existing stock to 80% market rents, homeless figures rising.
 Councils should be developing strategies based on NEED
 Best way to build movement is to link up with all other anti-privatisation
fight backs in the defence and promotion of good public sector
services.
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Unite have their newly launched Community Membership branch - the
unemployed have time and ability to help with campaigns
Cannot rely on councils – need to involve tenants and residents
Need to put pressure on unions to finance campaigns.
7. Campaigns Link up with Occupy Housing Group
 Make sure that UNITE and UNISON follow up on their conference
pledges of funding/ backing
 20 October TUC demo – ‘A Future that Works’ – need to get thousands
of tenants on streets to show the Govt how wrong their policies are.
Would like to have tenants and housing campaigners in a Housing Bloc
on march. Maybe issue numbered tickets, when we are encouraging
people to come on the march, to ensure commitment to date.
 Yes, need to mobilise for 20 October but must have something planned
for after that.
 Other dates are – 9-12 Sept TUC conference in Brighton; 30 Sept – 4
Oct Labour Party Conference in Manchester – DCH have a meeting on
Tuesday 2nd 6pm Friends House; Lib Dem Conf in B/ham 22
September; Conservative Conference October
 Dates to be confirmed
Next DCH national meeting - November