Housing Follow

Council tenants on the Langley estate in Middleton, Rochdale, are fighting against the transfer of their homes to fat cat landlords. Langley is a Manchester City Council overspill estate. The council is trying to con tenants to vote in the ballot to transfer to a housing association.

Council Housing campaigners are stepping up their fight against New Labour's plans to sell off council houses across Britain. This comes after New Labour minister Stephen Byers' recent announcement that councils will be able to borrow money to improve their housing stocks.

Bradford's hung council voted by 43 to 38 to privatise the city's 27,000 council homes last week. The Defend Council Housing campaign in Bradford has pledged to oppose the sell off. Tenants have the final say in the ballot to be held later this year. A preliminary survey by the council shows 82 percent of tenants want to stay under council control.

We had a marvellous lobby of parliament in defence of council housing on Wednesday of last week. Some 22 city tenants federations, over 45 individual tenants associations, and 85 trade union branches and trades councils united with anti-privatisation campaigns.

The government is in disarray over its plans to privatise council housing, and the chance is there to pile on the pressure to force a complete retreat. A marvellous opportunity to intensify the campaign comes in just over a week, when tenants and council workers join forces for a major lobby of parliament. Already coaches are booked from across Britain to bring people to London for the mass lobby on Wednesday 24 January.

New Labour's "homelessness tsar" has insulted people living on the streets yet again.