[First published on our website: February 2007]
Brighton & Hove council housing tenants dealt a huge blow to New Labour's rampant privatisation agenda by joining the 104 other local authorities by voting by a massive 77% to stay as council tenants and reject a new private housing association as their landlords.
Brighton Socialist Party members played a key role in persuading the occupiers of the city's 13,500 council homes to vote no in the ballot conducted by the council. The council spent over two million pounds on glossy information and propaganda but failed to obscure the blatant facts exposed by anti-privatisation campaigners - that privatisation means higher rents, loss of secure tenancies, no guarantee of repairs being carried out and the loss of democracy in the way the council housing stock is managed.
The mood of the tenants was clear once the council's propaganda was exposed. People are aware that privatisation means a worse deal for customers, employees and big rewards for the fat cats in charge of the privatised companies. People know that privatisation is a vehicle for the neo-liberal parties and their cronies and they have demanded, as with the NHS campaign, that public resources such as council housing should stay public with direct investment and better democracy brought in to support the run down resources.
The campaign was fought on the doorsteps of Brighton & Hove, with our dedicated supporters visiting tenants to explain what a vote for privatisation would mean for them. Socialist Party members, armed with our ideas and solutions, were welcomed by tenants sick of council propaganda and officials who wouldn't even dare to visit them for fear of the reception they would receive. The cowardly and scaremongering tactics of the council were in contrast to our clear and concise message - giving the tenants the facts about the con of privatisation and showing them that alternative approach was possible. The response was overwhelming and led to the landslide victory.
But tenants are disillusioned with the council as landlords following a systematic running down of homes with repairs not carried out and promises broken. However, they are aware that social housing is a key asset won by the working class and will fight to maintain it. And this fight will go on as the Labour-led council, in alliance with the Tory councillors, will continue to try to force through the privatisation by whatever means necessary.
With this result it provides a platform for the anti-privatisation movement to go further and demand the Forth Option - the direct funding of council housing by central government. And with the upcoming local elections it proves only to highlight the need for proper working class representation. The three main parties, and the Greens, have been proven to be unable to stand up for the working class of the city, and we can use this opportunity to raise the need for a Campaign for a New Workers' Party showing that socialist ideas provide the only answer to the attacks of the neo-liberal parties.
If you would like more information about us and the Defend Council Housing campaign, come along to one of our activities and get in touch.
[First published on our website: December 2006]Brighton & Hove city council has over the past three years fought a bitter and dirty battle to try and con the council tenants of Brighton & Hove into voting for a sell-off of their council homes to a privately-run housing association.
The council has tried to persuade tenants to agree to a stock transfer of Brighton & Hove's 13,500 council houses and sheltered homes as the only way that much needed repairs and investment can take place. Yet what they do not say is that the quality of housing has been purposefully run down by successive councils who have siphoned off tenants' rents to fill holes elsewhere in their mis-managed budget. In fact, nationally there is a surplus of £2 billion per year from council rents, which would easily cover all the necessary council house repairs in the country!
The government has stated that all councils in the UK must seek to move the control of their housing stock into private hands, in order that funds are released and in order to carry out improvements. What they haven't said is that this money isn't guaranteed and that the new owners will have to try and raise it themselves first, which will inevitably lead to rent rises, as has happened in the majority of local authorities who have already been through the transfer process.
Housing associations do not offer a safe future for council tenants. The facts show that they provide less secure tenancies, are liable to suffer financial difficulties and takeovers, and fail to deliver the promises made to tenants. Brighton & Hove council know this too and so have tried the hard sell technique to persuade tenants. They have even installed their own stooges at the head of the supposedly independent Tenant Participation Advisory Service!
What's more, the council has spent over £2 million on the transfer process, including £850,000 on their propaganda and £33,000 on a fancy DVD. Just think what improvements that money could have paid for!
But these gimmicks aren't fooling anyone. The truth is that moving from the council as a landlord to a private company means increased rents, less secure tenancies, no guarantee that the repairs promised will be done and the loss of democracy. At least with the council, no matter how bad they were, you could still vote them out!
The Socialist Party opposes this privatisation of public housing and has joined forces with the national Defend Council Housing (DCH) organisation to campaign for a NO vote in the forthcoming ballot of council tenants within Brighton & Hove.
During the last round of ballots, the NO votes have been increasing in number, by so much that most ballots are rejecting privatisation. In Tower Hamlets and Crawley, the councils have even abandoned their ballots knowing they can't win!
The privatisation of council housing is just the latest in the long line of public assets flogged off by the Labour government to private companies.
Remember - A NO vote is a vote against privatisation and a vote for the Forth Option - the increase of investment in decent quality, affordable, democratically-run public housing
