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WELCOME to the “Housing Matters” website. “Housing Matters” is a Dacorum-wide group, formed by concerned residents following the borough council’s declared intention to sell-off council homes. We are supported by Defend Council Housing (to see their Website click here), Hemel Hempstead Labour Party and UNISON Eastern Region Labour Link (to see details of UNISON's campaign a Million Voices for Public Services click here or for their specific wishes regarding housing click here (see fact sheet 4)).
What we believe:
We believe that the council has failed to look at the matter in the round and has taken a biased approach which, to date, has failed to articulate both sides of the argument surrounding any proposed transfer. In short, they are not giving tenants the full information upon which to make an informed decision and we believe that to be shameful and wrong.
What we want to achieve:
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full and open debate – not one sided propaganda
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proper scrutiny of the borough council’s proposals – not give them the carte blanche they crave
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full disclosure of the facts – not just those they want you to hear
What the present situation is:
Before homes can be transferred out of council ownership to an untried and untested new organisation, tenants have to vote yes in any ballot. The transfer would include all of the council’s leaseholder properties and garages, but only tenants will get a vote in a ballot.
We have started a petition to STOP the ballot the council is pressing ahead with. You can sign our petition asking for them to wait for the full facts to be known. Please complete our petition no later than the 20th January 2010.
Why the council is considering flogging off our homes:
The council says it no longer wishes to pay £20 million a year into a central pot so homes nationwide can be brought up to a decent homes standard and doesn’t have enough money to deliver a quality services to tenants in the future.
The sale price:
Originally the council expected to rake in £140 million when it originally planned to sell off the homes. But now the housing stock has been independently valued and the sale would just raise a net £72million – less than £7,000 per property and that money will have to go into investments to generate interest to cushion the council tax against the impact of the transfer. None of it will be spent on new houses or other services for years. Instead the council plans plush new offices for itself and the councillors will get a new town hall – paid for by the tenants.
Things have changed:
The government is advancing new housing proposals imminently which will relieve the council of the need to pay £20 million of the money it receives in rent to the government into a central pot. Instead all that money can be kept by the council. So the original reason the council put forward for selling off the homes is no longer valid.
This is not being made clear to tenants and the council isn’t prepared to wait a little while longer to establish the full facts surrounding the future.
If the government changes:
If there were to be a change of government, we would fully expect given their previous announcements and comments regarding the iniquity of Dacorum paying out £20 million a year annually that any new government would still enact the legislation if not already introduced and passed prior to polling day, so the council would have that money to spend on repairs. The reason for proceeding with the ballot would be null and void.
If the ballot goes ahead and things go wrong:
It’s too late. Transferring the homes is a risk. Once the houses are transferred there is no going back – they can never revert to the council. It has been calculated that the new owners – a trust – would accumulate a debt of a staggering £1/2 billion in just over a decade.
If you think tenants should get the full facts and not be hoodwinked:
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You can join our campaign by simply ringing 01442 251251
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You can write to your councillor asking for the ballot to be stopped (details of your councillor are available at www.dacorum.gov.uk)
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Help us distribute leaflets setting out the pitfalls the council refuse to let people know about
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Join us out and about collecting signatures on our protest petition
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Don’t forget to sign our on-line web petition and get your friends and neighbours to do so too. To sign here, click Housing Matters Petition
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Tory Housing Sell-Off in Tatters
