Category: My tuppenceworth

Social housing is so last century

My tuppenceworth speech by Hilary Judge

“My contention is that it is an outdated concept and selling off better social housing to private landlords and demolishing tower blocks would benefit the community”

The concept of social housing was introduced just over 100 years ago. It started with the intentions of improving the living conditions of renters but has resulted in replacing slums 100 years ago with slums today.

My contention is that it is an outdated concept and selling off better social housing to private landlords and demolishing tower blocks would benefit the community, by encouraging tenants into work, improve property repairs and create an economically mixed tenant base.

The Housing and Town Planning Act (Addison Act) of 1919 was the beginning of social housing in the UK, enabling local authorities to use government funding to build social housing for the working classes. The aim was to provide high-quality homes with gardens in greenfield areas, with indoor toilets and fitted baths for working families who could afford to pay higher rents. Local councils began to compulsorily purchase farms, using the land for development.

These houses were spacious but expensive to build. The next phase saw former slums cleared and replaced with flats between 3 and 5 stories high, being a cheaper alternative to family houses. These flats were also 35% smaller than houses but still had 3 bedrooms.

Construction stopped during WW2. At the end of the war, the government restarted replacing homes lost by bombings with prefabricated houses, which could be made off-site and quickly assembled. These prefabs were supposed to last for 10 years, although there are still some in existence today.

“the quality of construction diminished. Instead of “high-quality houses”, families were housed in high-rise flats”

Another cheaper solution was precast reinforced concrete, where unskilled labour could be used in construction. High-rise blocks of flats were developed using precast reinforced concrete.

So the quality of construction diminished. Instead of “high-quality houses”, families were housed in high-rise flats.

In 1980, the Right to Buy scheme was introduced, resulting in around 1 million homes sold in 10 years, with tenants buying mainly the better-quality homes. Council housing stocks diminished. The precast concrete properties were found to have structural issues and prospective purchasers had difficulty securing finance.

Councils were then left with poorer quality homes considered “hard to treat”. Councils were encouraged to hand over these properties to housing associations and other social landlords who could secure funding for regeneration works.

Private tenants do not have a right to buy – quite rightly in my opinion. However, they do have a proper choice of where exactly they want to live and the type of property that they want to live in, depending upon how much rent they can afford.

“Private landlords generally want to maintain their properties to a high standard as ignoring issues increases damage and costs in the long run. Most provide a much better repairs service than social landlords as they have a financial interest in the property”

Up until the 1980s, rent was collected weekly and repairs could be reported at the same time. Council officers would undertake a pre-inspection unless the job was routine and their own workmen would carry out the repair. As landlords, it could be said that councils were fairly hands-on. Housing associations used small, local contractors but would carry out pre and post-inspections. This gradually changed, so now most social landlords contract out their entire maintenance operations to large maintenance contractors, including reporting repairs.

Opportunities to examine high-maintenance issues, from “lifestyle” to building deficiencies can be overlooked.

Private landlords generally want to maintain their properties to a high standard as ignoring issues increases damage and costs in the long run. Most provide a much better repairs service than social landlords as they have a financial interest in the property. 

In 1996, a total of 26.6m households in owner-occupied properties, 5.97m in social housing and 3.54m in private rented properties.

Statistics from June 2022 show a total of 26.62m households in owner-occupied properties, 5.94m in social housing and 8.72m in private rented properties. So the number of owner-occupied and social rented properties has stayed fairly consistent over the last 26 years, but the private rented sector has increased by 250%. 

By May 2019, claimants of Housing Benefit had reduced to 3.6 million, while 1.1 million households were receiving the housing element of Universal Credit. 73% of HB recipients (2.6 million) were tenants in the Social Rented Sector and 27% were in the Private Rented Sector (970,000). So much for the working families who could afford to pay higher rents!

Social landlords are moving from being councils to housing associations. Although they are “not for profit”, chief executives often earn six-figure salaries, and most management boards are paid. Housing associations do not pay tax on profits.

There is a regulator of social housing, who is responsible for ensuring that housing associations are properly managed, given the scale of public funds that they receive.

“Competition between landlords to have the best properties and secure highest rents. Complete choice for tenants – you can live anywhere that you want if you can pay the rent”

Contrast this with private landlords who only receive tax relief at 20% on mortgage interest and contribute to the treasury with tax on their profits.

Social housing is allocated on “need”, so having children, medical problems and no job all help to secure a home. Tenants also must prove that they are the responsibility of that local authority. Contrast that with private landlords – referencing to make sure that tenants can afford the rent so preference for those in work. Competition between landlords to have the best properties and secure highest rents. Complete choice for tenants – you can live anywhere that you want if you can pay the rent. The incentive is to have a successful career and many private tenants go on to buy their own properties.

Dumping tenants with mixed social needs together on estates simply results in chaos. High rates of crime, gangs and drugs. Private landlords are usually in mixed owner-occupied / private rented areas, so less anti-social impact.

My contention is that if all social housing was sold to private landlords – not property companies but individuals – there would be less worklessness, less crime, better properties and more tax for the treasury. 

Selling 5.9m properties at half average value would generate £800 billion. If each property generated a £5k profit annually, there would be an additional £6 billion in tax.

Image: Older social housing, Hester’s Way, Cheltenham 2 By: Jonathan Billinger

Hey Council, leave my town alone…

My tuppenceworth speech by Mike Swadling

“I wrote in the Citizen about how plans to make Croydon a living wage borough, risks jobs at the proposed Westfield Shopping Centre, I note it has never been built”

The Licensing Act 1872 – among other things – stopped the practice of adding salt to drinks, which was originally put in beer to increase thirst and sales. This ‘improvement’ was made by the government to help us as consumers. I often think of how government intervention fails to improve things, as I pay for my own salted crisps to accompany a pint.

Words from my article for the Croydon Citizen from four years ago.  The article was extensively about how Croydon Council had destroyed the bustling night time economy of the town centre of my youth, through a series of bright ideas to “improve the town”.  These included a presumption to refuse new applications in the town centre for “premises used exclusively or primarily for the sale/supply of alcohol and/or loud amplified recorded music”.  The council was thankfully finally reversing this initiative.

When they were running, I wrote in the Citizen about how plans to make Croydon a living wage borough, risks jobs at the proposed Westfield Shopping Centre, I note it has never been built.  I also wrote about how the council spending £1.1 million on improving Surrey Street Market had led to over a 20% drop in traders.

“What business is it of mine if someone wants to build this?  What business is it of Croydon Council’s politicians or officers if someone wants to spend their sweat and treasure on building this?”

At our last My Tuppenceworth, I spoke about how we needed a Democratically Elected Mayor of Croydon, we now have one.  I now want to speak about how I implore that he and his council, leave my town, our town, alone.

We hear Westfield are once again looking to develop in Croydon.  This is great news, and something is much needed.  Now clearly the council needs to be involved in granting planning permission, and no doubt will need to weigh in on changes to roads, parking, and public transport.  They have a statutory duty to be involved in these areas, beyond that, I ask they stay well clear.

“please Croydon Council stay out of their way.  Beyond that, stop with any bright ideas, grand plans, and great initiatives”

The old Allders department store building, which before the council’s intervention had reinvented itself as a successful Village Outlet store, now has plans to become an arts venue.  The idea of a venue where you can, too quote “lose oneself in art, beyond digital culture, where we can connect in the real world, in deeper and more meaningful stories.”, frankly sounds potty to me.  But so what, I’m not their target market.  What business is it of mine if someone wants to build this?  What business is it of Croydon Council’s politicians or officers if someone wants to spend their sweat and treasure on building this?  Their initiative is to be welcomed, but please Croydon Council stay out of their way.  Beyond that, stop with any bright ideas, grand plans, and great initiatives.  I’m sure if you just get out of their way, you will find many willing to invest in our great town.

Coming together to ensure there is never another lockdown

My tuppenceworth speech by Mike Swadling

“It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.”

Solidarity, the Polish Trade Union, brought 10 million people together.  It survived a period of martial law imposed to crush it and helped bring about the downfall of their Communist government.  On November 9, 1989, it was announced that starting at midnight, citizens of East Germany were free to cross the country’s borders. East and West Berliners flocked to the wall.  As the border guard in charge frantically called his superiors, they gave no orders.  Overwhelmed he gave the command to “Open the barrier!”.  Both of these serve as a reminder that by coming together people can achieve the seemingly impossible.

Mahatma Gandhi, said “Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state has become lawless or corrupt. And a citizen who barters with such a state, shares in its corruption and lawlessness.”

The Reverend Martin Luther King said, “One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”

Or as Aristotle put it “It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.”

“We need all of those who objected to any part of lockdown to come on board.  We don’t need to insist on total agreement or compliance, after all we are not them”

I’m not sure if we can stop a future lockdown.  My suspicion is government will be reluctant to impose another full lockdown.  They will instead salami slice our freedom away with the imposition of more and more restrictions that never fully disappear.  These will be much harder to oppose as each one will be minor and have some alleged practical argument in favour of it.  Whilst we may not be able to stop them, we can disobey them.   

We need to build a polarity if not a majority.  We need all of those who objected to any part of lockdown to come on board.  We don’t need to insist on total agreement or compliance, after all we are not them.  We are the free, we are the people who believe in live and let live.  

“we must once again, be not only free, but free from the fear of more government restrictions”

That means we will often find ourselves arm in arm with those we disagree with, and with whom we share little common ground.    But the common ground we have, the area we can agree on, and the way we build a group large enough to oppose lockdowns, is by banding with those who all agree we must once again, be not only free, but free from the fear of more government restrictions.

We should never try to impose this on others, we may need sometimes to follow the rules and pick our battles.  We should also never mock those who follow the rules.  Instead, we can simply go about our lives as a free people regardless of what government says or others do.

If the restrictions come again, we can meet in the park as many have, or better still pop round to each other’s homes.  If you can go into work, go in.  We can meet-up on public transport or at the supermarket.  With the exception of medical environments, refuse to wear a mask.  We can’t go to the pubs if they are closed but bring a bottle and you are all welcome around mine for drinks.

We need to build networks of the widest set of people. Not those who agree with us 100%, but who agree on this one issue.  In May we organised a hustings of otherwise disparate political parties who were all pro freedom and anti-lockdown.  Despite their differences, on this overwhelmingly important issue, they agreed and came together.  We must all do that, find that common ground with as many as possible, and defy anyone that ever tries to lock us down again.

My Tuppenceworth 2nd August – Speeches and Photos.

Our second My Tuppenceworth turned out to be another great free speech event.  We had 8 speeches on the night from 5 speakers, each followed by a lively Q&A.  Where people have shared their speeches, we have published and linked to them below.

The first half of the evening was on the topic of “How do we ensure there is never another lockdown?”.  The following people spoke on the subject:

  • Mike Swadling – speech
  • Cllr. George Pender
  • Zack Stiling – speech

Our freestyle speakers and speeches were:

Photos from the evening:

My tuppenceworth – A Free Speech event, Tuesday 2nd August, 2022

My tuppenceworth is back, on Tuesday 2nd August 2022 at the South Croydon Conservative Club. 

You are the star!

This is your opportunity to speak to those assembled on an issue that really matters to you and give your tuppenceworth. Each speaker will have up to 3 minutes to speak about an issue dear to their heart, followed by a short Q&A.

The first half of the evening we invite speakers to speak on the topic:
“How do we ensure there is never another lockdown?”
In the second half we are open to any topic, but we do ask all speeches are non-partisan and remind you the laws of slander still apply!

Come prepared or do off the cuff, this is your opportunity to exercise some free speech.

If you do have notes, we can publish to increase the reach of your ideas as we have done previously.

If you would like to speak, please register by emailing [email protected].  7pm for drinks and sharp 7:30pm start, Tuesday 2nd August 2022.

Join us at the South Croydon Conservative Club.  60 Selsdon Road. South Croydon. CR2 6PE.

Facebook: https://fb.me/e/1ZP2957bD

My tuppenceworth – A Free Speech event – photos and speakers.

On Tuesday 19th November we held our latest free speech event –My Tuppenceworth in South Croydon.

A great night with speakers covering a wide variety of subjects.  Thanks to all who spoke and all who came along on the night.

Speakers with links to the speeches where are able to reproduce:

Shareholder Nomination to the AGM Committee (SNAC) – My Tuppenceworth speech

Our Free Speech event, My tuppenceworth, on Tuesday 19th November gave lots of people the opportunity to speak.  One of those speeches came from Gavin Palmer, we have reproduced the text below.

It needs the long title Shareholder Nomination to the AGM Committee (SNAC) as the long title explains what it is and does rather than being seen as just a shareholders committee meeting when all meetings must include the Chairman of the Board.

The committee by the nature of who attends it, are likely to have more than 5% of the companies shares so they could call an EGM within 14 days to vote on a resolution that they have just written. That resolution would also include up to 1000 words of explanation and be sent to every shareholder on the shareholders register. 

The board would also likely have to rebutt the resolution which given that the petitioners are some of the very largest shareholders vs their servants the board of Directors would be interesting and most likely shareholders would favour the largest shareholders.

The committees cheap, simple formation would solve excessive pay, bonuses for failure, stop board infighting and politiciking over the top job of being a CEO, select truly the very best team leader for the job regardless of the commissions payable to the headhunters (related to high pay, high bonuses, high share awards) and the upping entire boardroom pay regardless of performance.

Also it enables the owners to smoothly replace bad CEOs or Chairman before they do too much damage without being ransomed or blackmailed. Also if the company needs a rights issue, the Chairman just asks those around the table if they would back the rights issue and job done 3 underwriters!

Opposition: The priveledged access given to the gatekeepers :-  the big fund managers Blackrock, Legal & General, Norges Bank, Insight who don’t want to increase their costs or accountability to manage or be involved attending the committees and unable to trade on ‘insider hints/tips’ they gained.

Weak points of this opposition: public press embaressment of pension funds refusing or just not attending a short meeting with the chairman when they have £100million invested in them (It worked in Sweden!) – they then attended the next year!

Action

1) invite chairman and the largest beneficial chairman to a meeting with Sharesoc of many plcs

2) gather 140 activists, give them a single share plus add a large shareholder and submit a full shareholder resolution requisitions to plcs.

Option 1 is cheaper and easier

Option 2 is involved but gets wide coverage and attention.

Hmm thanks to this I think I should add a draft resolution to the wikipedia page and add SNAC.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shareholder_committee

Corporate responsibility to free speech in a free market – My Tuppenceworth speech

Our Free Speech event, My tuppenceworth, on Tuesday 19th November gave lots of people the opportunity to speak.  One of those speeches came from Malachy McDermott, London Group Leader of the Libertarian Party, we have reproduced the text below.

I am a libertarian, I believe that the free market is the last great hope for the economic survival of us all. Without it we are doomed to regressive socialist, communist, neo Keynesian, fascist and oligarichal forms of control over our economic lives.

However there is one place in which I believe Libertarians and free market advocates often fail it is in the area of applying their personal morality to their consumption. The example I am using here is free speech, but without too much imagination it could easily be applied to the myriad other moral failings of modern corporations.

Free speech is under constant attack, our right to offend and the acceptance of being offended have taken a back seat to a autocratic PC culture that limits language, thought and the flow of ideas. It especially limits discourse of repugnant or illogical ideas. Dangerously giving them legitimacy.

The perpetrators of this, have yes, been state and government actors. But more than that there has been a self regulation by social media companies. Facebook and Twitter especially.

The libertarian response has been to say “these are private companies, their house their rules.” But this is akin to saying “coca cola put arsenic in every 10th can, but that’s their company.” Its a abuse of the market position we would not accept in any other industry.

So why accept it? Being libertarian or being pro free market is the acceptance of freedom with responsibility. We do have a responsibility to our own morality. History shows that regulations and bans do not work, but consumer preference does, therefore we need to ask more of our companies. We need to speak to the better, responsible part of ourselves. If we cannot do this then we are coming ourselves to a life nanny corporatism. Where like in some free market east Germany, we will regulate ourselves, private individuals limiting each other. That is a future I choose not to live in and I hope you would agree with me that it is not one you would like to live in either.

Decency, Democracy, Freedom and Freedoms – My Tuppenceworth speech

Our Free Speech event, My tuppenceworth, on Tuesday 19th November gave lots of people the opportunity to speak.  One of those speeches came from Peter Sonnex, Brexit Party Candidate for Croydon Central, we have reproduced the text below.

Decency, Democracy, Freedom and Freedoms… These have been hard won, but so easily taken for granted. Easy come, easy go can quickly lead to freedoms being expressed with no thought – the playground stuff – for the consequences and the damage they may do to those very freedoms
themselves…

The irony is not lost that we should be aware this evening of our location and that we are in the throes of another Brexit General Election… I shall, of course steer away from party politics in respect for our hosts. After all, I am not a politician!

The poster for this event shows Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, late of the Corps of Royal Engineers – my very own Corps. The appalling waste of blood and treasure aside – if that were ever possible, as we shall never forget – it was his rallying call that galvanised the country’s resolve
against tyranny in Europe – standing up for democracy then – as I am now.

[As a young officer, it was Kitchener who was sent to rescue another former Royal Engineer – General Gordon of Khartoum. His plan to build a railway from the Red Sea to Khartoum, thwarted by the hubris of Field Marshal Wolseley who insisted on going up the Nile by boat. I wonder if he
used free speech to let him know how he felt…]

Only in my dotage have I really been able to put my own, rather less glorious military career in perspective: In the Falkland Islands defending the democratic will of the Falkland Islanders who had voted overwhelmingly to remain as a United Kingdom Overseas Territory; during the Cold War in Germany, defending our democracy and freedoms against the very real threat of the Warsaw Pact – winning as the Berlin Wall came down – sparking a fire of democracy to burn all the way through Eastern Europe. Long, long tours of the Former Yugoslavia were spent establishing a safe and secure environment for their first democratic elections; my time in Iraq spent establishing a safe and secure environment for – you’ve guessed it – democratic elections. I remain traumatised by our failure as the Occupying Power to deliver on their mandate for democracy and freedom. They do not have what we, the UK as the Occupying Power, promised them – at all…

At home, I find our future lies in the hands of people for whom entitlement is a right not earned and every demand is pandered to no matter the cost for their so-called ‘freedoms’. People who never learned that no means no or that our democracy came and comes at a price: selflessness, fairness, empathy, compassion, compromise, tolerance and respect.

I feel betrayed in my own country as our freedoms are taken away by a wedge of political correctness, a lack of trust and truth in politics, and incompetent legislators. I feel compelled to stand up again for democracy in my own country as our vote – and it is all you and I have – is counted, disrespected and fails to be acted upon.

Who do I trust in all this?

Easy. You! YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU!

Democratically Elected Mayor of Croydon – My Tuppenceworth speech

Our Free Speech event, My tuppenceworth, on Tuesday 19th November gave lots of people the opportunity to speak.  One of those speeches came from Mike Swadling, we have reproduced the text below.

My tuppencyworth sets out to prove what former House of Representatives Speaker Tip O’Neill said “all Politics is local”.

For I would like to talk to you about a Democratically Elected Mayor of Croydon.

Now don’t let the title fool you, this merely reflects the title given in the legislation.

An elected mayor replaces the current council leader, and wow does that leader need replacing.

First some facts about the borough.

  • If Croydon was a city it would be the 8th largest in the UK with over 385,000 people.
  • Over 14,000 businesses are based in Croydon.
  • At an average salary of just over £29,000 we earn about £5,000 more than the UK average.

This numbers hide some huge disparities.

The London Borough of Croydon, was formed in 1965 from the Coulsdon and Purley Urban District and the County Borough of Croydon.

It is really 2 or 3 distinct areas thrown together as part of the Greater London sprawl.

The 60 bus coming into Norbury, travels through the typical inner London communities of Thornton Heath and Broad Green.

Croydon and South Croydon are more typical outer London suburbs.

Then somewhere travelling down from Purley the area turns into rural Surrey as the bus passes and eventually climbs the North Downs into Old Coulsdon.

Those differences exemplify why we need a mayor. 

Today reflecting these differences, Croydon has a Conservative strong hold to the south, a Labour strong hold to the north.  With swing seats in Parliament and on the Council in the centre.

The parties focus overwhelmingly on the swing wards, and frankly they admit this themselves.

But it gets worse….

The leader of the council is selected by the councillors of the winning party.  This could be just 21 votes from councillors, all in safe seats.

This is compounded by over half the councillors being granted special allowances for additional roles, often given to them by the same leader they have just appointed.

An elected mayor will be for voted by all of the people of Croydon,

If they want to win election, and re-election they will need to win substantial numbers of votes from, and represent all of the borough.

We want an executive head we can vote for, someone to drive the town forward, and someone to blame.

Even in this illustrious group, few here will know who at the council is responsible for the potholes that litter the town, or who has responsibility for our 120 parks and open spaces.

Who do we hold accountable for the Children’s Services that continues to be rated as Inadequate by Ofsted?

With a Mayor we know who is responsible and who to hold accountable – it is, the Mayor.

We have a campaign.

It is the only show in town to improve the way Croydon is governed.

We are formed by, and have support from many local residents associations.

We also have support from the Conservatives, Croydon South Labour, The Brexit Party, the Libertarian party and the Christen Peoples Alliance Party.

We need 15,000 signatures and we can then put it to the people.  If you are a Croydon resident sign the petition and give the people of Croydon a free choice.