BYRNE TAKES TENANTS FIGHT TO HOUSING MINISTER

Liam Byrne, MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill, this week took up the case of council tenants with Housing Minister Yvette Cooper MP at a meeting demanded by Liam to discuss Birmingham City Council’s progress in securing Decent Homes across Hodge Hill.

The meeting follows Liam’s discovery that plans submitted by the Lib Dem / Tory coalition to bring council homes up to the Government’s Decent Homes standard, could be both unrealistic and unaffordable. The Council’s plans to upgrade council homes are dependent on increasing sales of council owned property by around 20 times the rate of sales made last year.

In answer to a question put down by the Labour Group in January, it emerged that up to January 2006 the Lib Dem / Tory leadership recouped just £3m of the £54m target in land sales set out in the Council’s own business plan for the 2005-06 financial year.

This could have a massive impact on the ability of the Council to improve housing stock, leaving local residents out in the cold.

In answer to a further question put down by Shard End Cllr Margaret Byrne, the Council refused to reveal what plans they have for land sales in the future, raising doubts as to whether they are likely to get anywhere near the amount of sales needed to meet their Decent Homes target.

Liam said

“Decent Homes are a top priority for residents in Hodge Hill. I want to see every home in the constituency brought into the 21st century, so that they match the aspirations of our community. I worry whether the current Council plans can deliver.’

“I think it’s important that when you give people a choice, you’re straight with them. When the Council asked residents whether they wanted to stay with them, they promised that they’d be able to raise the cash to upgrade homes to a decent standard. Having seen these figures, the Council plans look like pie in the sky’.

ENDS