Reported widely on the BBC this morning, Newham Council says it can no longer afford to house tenants on its waiting list in private accommodation.
To solve this problem it has written to Brighter Futures Housing Association in Stoke-on-Trent with an opportunity for them to lease 500 homes to it.
The story first came to light in a piece written by Tristram Hunt MP for The Sentinel which was published on Monday, Olympic Torch shouldn’t light the way for exiles saying
Last week, a Hanley-based housing association received a disturbing letter from Newham Council, the local authority hosting July’s extravaganza, asking for help.
The correspondence explained that due to an overheating of the local private rented sector in their borough – caused by a combination of this summer’s Olympics and a buoyant market for London’s young professionals – it could no longer afford to house tenants on its waiting list in private accommodation.
Prices have been pushed too high. As a result, the gap between rents and the Local Housing Allowance – the fixed rate of housing benefit paid to tenants in the private rented sector – was too large.
The letter from Newham Council to Brighter Futures has been published on the Guardian website,
Sir Robin Wales the leader of Newham Council will be on BBC Radio 4s Today program at 0810 this morning.
0750 – Evan Davis has just reported that Newham have also contacted Peaks & Plains Housing Trust in Macclesfield.
0810 – Sir Robin Wales stated that Newham had written to 1100 different associations across the country to find housing for the 500 families.
More on this story on the BBC London council’s ‘social cleansing’ of housing benefit tenants
We’ll update this story during the day.
Reaction to the story that Newham Council want to send 500 families to Stoke-on-Trent
Let us know what you think is, Newham council right to ship 500 families out and should Stoke-on-Trent accept them?
So this is Stoke-on-Trent’s Olympic Legacy is it, the offer of 500 families from London? 500 more people in the job market, 500 families calling on the servies of the city council who are very thin on the ground due to the cuts.
Thank you London, we’ll be proud to accept your cast offs as a lasting memory of the Olympics.
Isn’t it rather a long way for them to travel to their places of work?
*Irony*
I like the irony of ‘Work’….
Only 90 minutes from Stoke-on-Trent to London by train, maybe some rich millionaires will fancy relocating to Stoke instead.
I’ve just listened to this on Radio 4. As long as people already in Stoke are not disadvantaged then what does it matter? Stoke-on-Trent is a fantastic place to live, lots of parks and green space.
500 additional families requiring healthcare, school places, transport, policing, social care support. The money offered in the article is going to the housing association, not the local authority. Where is the money to provide the additional services coming from?
I did say “As long as people already in Stoke are not disadvantaged then what does it matter? ”
Just a thought with any large scale housing development, to be able to proceed the developer has to contribute s106 funding to support local schools and improve transport etc.. normally a lot less then the £1.5m a year Newham are offering on top of the rents. Just a thought
Is this really a news story?
According to the BBC it seems to be.
The policy has been going on for some time. In 2004 I canvassed for the Labour Party a couple in Newhouse Rd, Abbey Hulton who had moved there from Haringey. They were really appreciative and liked the green spaces in comparison with North London. In the late 90s there was the Serb named Panic a composer who pursued a court case against Camden Council on the grounds that he had been relocated to Stoke which he regarded as a backwater. Panic prefered to be on the streets of London.
The 500 familes probably means a population of around 2,000 as the families located will probably have many children so ineviatbly there will be pressures on schools and health services
I’ve just tweeted this link http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/apr/24/tory-westminster-council-tenants-derby
So it seems that it isn’t just Newham to Stoke (or whoever will take the 500) but also Westminster to Derby.
Social engineering and widening of the North South Divide
Just watched Question Time where the Newham issue was raised. The reputaion of Stoke is sinking faster than the Titanic if comments from the panel and the audience are to believed. Words and phrases lile “holocaust” and “social cleansing” are being thrown around with Stoke being at the focus of all this. It has done irreputable damage to the area
will our local labour group investigate if it was Tristham Hunt MP or Labours national press team, that decided to use Newhams letter to Stoke on Trent out of the 1,179 letters they also sent to other areas for this campaign against HB caps?
I was appauled by Newhams request to send it’s ‘unwanted poor’ to Stoke. I find it totally beyond belief! Newham should look after it’s own! Moving the poor to the North of London would create more of a North South Divide. Who would they get to do all there dirty work?? Additionally we haven’t the resources in Stoke and why should we, we have a high unemployment rate and it would drive more of us into poverty, its disgraceful! The way they spoke of ‘Stoke-on-Trent’ on Question Time last night was beyond belief, we seem to be the Lepers colony to hear them talk. Deeply offending, Us Stokies have our Pride! We have our problems and need help not more problems. London is full of fat cats let them look after their own, after all they can afford it far better than us and our stricken council who is finding it hard to make ends meet!