Tories promise new rights for tenants

APRIL 14, 2009

TENANTS on Carlisle’s housing estates could soon be given new rights to help them restore pride to their local neighbourhoods.

If the Conservatives win the next General Election – which, according to the latest opinion polls, seems likely – they will be embarking on a radical overhaul of housing policy which will  help tackle anti-social behaviour while at the same time help people get onto the property ladder.

With 2,587 familes on the waiting list for social housing in Carlisle the need for a revamp of the rented property sector is obvious.

And John Stevenson, Carlisle’s prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate, says the latest initiative unveiled by his party would be just what the city needs.

“Thirty years ago the Tories introduced the Right to Buy, which transformed council estates,” he says. “Now it is time for something else whose affects will be almost as dramatic.”

Under the new Conservative proposals, law-abiding, socially responsible tenants would be rewarded with a 10% equity share in their social rented property, which could be cashed in when they wanted to move up the housing ladder.

“It will reward the socially responsible citizens who pay their rent on time, keep their gardens tidy and ensure their children stay out of trouble,” John says.

“And, with tenants having a direct financial stake in the state of their neighbourhood, it will help restore a sense of pride to parts of our city where, perhaps, there is not enough at the moment.”

John says such an idea has become especially important with the increase in house prices significantly outstripping the rise in earnings.

“The average price of a house in Carlisle last year was  £145,062 – nearly six times the average income for a full-time worker,” he says. “That means getting that first vital step onto the housing ladder is virtually impossible for many families

“We need to do more to help people get on and move up the property ladder – and this latest proposal is a very good way of doing it.”

The Conservatives’ plans would also introduce a comprehensive national mobility scheme for good tenants who wish to move to other social sector properties anywhere in England.

Waiting lists would be cut by relaxing the rules that prevent thousands of habitable empty properties being used to house those on local authority waiting lists, and villages and towns would be allowed to develop local homes for local people, provided there is strong community backing.