Southwark has retained it’s place as London’s worst landlord. We have record numbers of housing complaints, failed housing refurbishment plans and a growing housing waiting list.
But Southwark has now been shamefully crowned England’s capital of empty council homes. 1,512 council homes sit empty across Southwark. That’s more than the entire North West England.
With 17,700 households stuck on a static housing waiting list, people should be rightfully shocked and angry that there are so many vacant council homes.
On average, Southwark is taking nearly half a year to bring these vital council homes back into use. That’s too long and we need much faster turnaround to make sure these precious homes are able to support those who desperately need them. Hundreds of these empty homes are in buildings due for demolition.
A toxic mix of chronic underfunding from years of shambolic Conservative governments along with local mismanagement and incompetence from the Labour run council is what has got us into this desperate situation. When Liberal Democrat’s ran Southwark we shrank the number of empty of council homes from 1600 to 600 (still far too many).
Since Labour have got back in, empty council homes have steadily risen back to claim the shoddy title of England’s empty council home capital.
144 homes have sat empty at Maydew House next to Southwark Park for over 7 years. The decision to refurbish the building was made over a decade ago.
Southwark Labour’s appalling dither and delay left costs spiraling to a point at which a chronically underfunded council like Southwark couldn’t possibly afford. Last year it was finally confirmed it would be demolished. That demolition was supposed to start last month, but the debacle has been delayed further as work now won’t begin until Autumn.
However, we cannot let the Tories use these stats to pass blame for our lack of social housing solely on councils. Regeneration and refurbishment of social housing is absolutely vital.
The Aylesbury Estate, currently undergoing staged demolition, has rampant pest infestations and is barely habitable. No one should have to live in those conditions and councils need to be funded properly to ensure that houses are safe.
Locally, Labour need to start taking this issue seriously. The grindingly slow pace of progress that has led to thousands of council homes sitting empty comes from Labour not admitting that Southwark has become ground zero for the housing crisis.
For a start, Southwark’s needs to declare a housing emergency and follow Lib Dem-run Richmond’s lead in implementing a social housing improvement plan that enshrines the high standard of council homes people deserve.
Nationally, the end of this disastrous Conservative government can’t come soon enough.
Whoever takes over must implement sustainable, long term funding settlements for local government giving councils the freedom to start really tackling the housing crisis.