Labour-controlled Westminster City Council is introducing life-time tenancies for people living in social housing. Earlier this week, we spoke to Cllr Paul Swaddle, Leader of the opposition Conservative Group at Westminster City Council and Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake to ask whether these tenancies are fair for local people.
Cllr Paul Swaddle started our conversation.
"I'm here with MP Kevin Hollinrake this morning talking about lifetime tenancies. Westminster Council are introducing them, and we don't think that's fair on people who are on the waiting list and people who have taken a long time trying to wait for that council house. Kevin, what's the national policy on this?
"Well, we introduced while we're in government, the ability for reviews to happen to make sure that people in properties subsidised by the local authority, for example, are reserved. Those properties are reserved for people most in need. And I think that's what people would reasonably expect to happen. So we can focus our resources, but what's happening here now is quite the reverse of that. Paul?
"What they're doing now is they've taken the view that they're going to stop the five-year review and they're going to allow all people, all people, to turn over to a lifetime tenancy. Now that means that people will be on the waiting list longer.
"But if people's circumstances change massively, if you're a union baron on hundreds of thousands of pounds a year, you can just stay in one of these properties forever, and that locks it out for people in real need.
"It's got to be fair, and that's clearly unfair. And I commend you on your campaign on this, and I'll support you every step of the way.
"Great, thank you very much."
