Following on from our article, Lambeth Council’s housing promises: a decade of disappointment and deception, Lambeth Green Party have issued a statement about their concern over the council’s housing policy.
It reads:
Lambeth Labour cannot be trusted on housing
Labour members ignored Greens Councillor Scott Ainslie’s questions about Lambeth’s housing strategy and delivery at the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, 13 March 2024.
Following the release of Lambeth’s New Homes Program, Cllr Ainslie asked about the council’s capacity to nearly double the number of homes it builds by 2030. Cabinet members and council officers failed to answer the questions.
Cllr Ainslie, Streatham St Leonard’s Ward, said in the meeting:
“The people of Lambeth know that Labour cannot be trusted on housing. In February 2014 the Cabinet member for Housing and Regeneration, Cllr Pete Robbins, said to BBC Inside Out that the millions generated from selling off thousands of Lambeth’s Cooperative Housing stock would be used to build more council houses. This never happened.”
“Also, in your 2018 manifesto, you promised to build a thousand council homes. How many were delivered? None”
He also highlighted the ballooning management and supervision costs in disrepair cases, saying:
“of the £147 million spent on disrepair cases, only £41 million is on actual repairs. The remaining £106 million goes to management and supervision. In other councils this balance is fifty-fifty – where is the value for money for residents?”
