Three years ago, the new Labour Council took power promising to build new homes, improve services and place local estate residents at the very heart of housing. Today, those promises are increasingly hollow.
The uncomfortable truth is that virtually every new home currently being built or in the pipeline was started by the previous Conservative administration. For all Labour's rhetoric about the housing crisis where is the urgency? Where are the bold new initiatives promised?
The pledge to put residents first appears to have been quietly abandoned.Leaseholders continue to endure punitive above-inflation service charge increases year after year, in some cases this year 100%, while tenants face the maximum rent rises that regulations permit. This is not a resident-centred approach. And our ambitious proposals to grant leaseholders and tenants meaningful control—including genuine involvement in major works decisions and pricing—have been diluted or dropped. So much for empowering residents.
The situation at the Lillington and Longmore Estate in Pimlico exemplifies Labour’s failures. Residents endure a catalogue of serious problems with faulty heating systems, persistent leaks, even the alarming spectacle of heating equipment exploding. Nobody expected instant solutions, but residents had every right to expect proper consultation and involvement in finding remedies. Three years later, the situation remains fundamentally unchanged.
Labour's promise of improved day-to-day engagement with housing officers—crucial for building the relationships for effective housing management—has proved equally empty. New housing offices may have opened, but they are staffed by a revolving door of officers. How can residents build trust and working relationships if they don’t know their officers?
Westminster's C1 grade from the housing regulator tells its own story. While marginally better than most London authorities, it is only a basic pass. Officers agree that substantial improvement remains necessary.
Particularly damning is the decline in repairs satisfaction. Far from improving services, Labour has presided over a fall from 79% satisfaction when the pandemic and its legacy made repairs really difficult, to just 75% today. One in four residents are dissatisfied with repairs under Labour and that is a damning indictment.
As Conservatives, we believe in authentic resident control, not Labour’s hollow rhetoric. We trust residents' associations and individual residents to know what works best. We are committed to giving residents the power to drive change.
After three years of disappointment, Westminster's residents deserve better. They deserve genuine action.
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