Sandy 4 St Albans

Whatever will the Labour Government do next?

We now learn that Gordon Brown is trousering 38 pence of every pound that St Albans council home tenants pay in rent.  It’s a scandal.

The Labour parliamentary candidate recently complained about the lack of affordable housing in St Albans.  It’s a huge problem.  It’s her Government in power, they make the rules.  The most affordable housing of all is council housing – traditionally made available for the less well off. 

So why is her Government taking £7.6 million pounds out of the pockets of some of the least well-off St Albans residents? 

Council tenants pay their taxes like everyone else.  But unlike anyone
else – home-owner or private renter – they are effectively taxed for the privilege.

You pays your money and you pays Gordon Brown too.

The Government argues that the money goes to areas of ‘housing need’. 
“This seems to be shorthand for inefficient Labour authorities in the
north of England. 

Of course better-off people expect to
pay taxes to help the disadvantaged.  That is what tax is for.  But it
seems positively bizarre and unfair that the less well-off in our
community should be additionally taxed in this stealthy way.

Robin Hood  took from the rich to pay the poor.  Gordon Brown takes from the poor to pay the poor.
 

It is an even worse story when it comes to receipts from council house
sales. The Labour Government now confiscates 75 percent
of the proceeds.  How then can we build new affordable homes for the
growing housing need in our area?  How do we build new homes for our
children who can’t afford to buy property in St Albans?  Or for
incoming families working in key professions and sectors?

St Albans led the country with its “Eco-house” in Smallford, a
show-home for how traditional council houses can be brought up to the
highest standards of energy efficiency.  People have come to see it
from all over the country.  It has won a gold award in the prestigious
Green Apple Awards, putting St Albans on the map as an innovative and
ground-breaking housing authority. 

The idea was to learn the lessons in terms of cost-effective energy
conservation measures and then extend them to the rest of the council
housing stock – saving tenants money in fuel bills and reducing the
district’s carbon footprint.  But by grabbing St
Albans tenants’ money in this way, the Labour Government makes it
almost impossible for this sensible capital investment  to be made.

It seems ironic that a Labour Government should be so destructive of
the social housing concept.  But why should we be surprised when
nationwide the lowest-earning ten percent of the population – the
people most likely to be in council housing – already pay a higher
percentage of their income in tax than the richest ten percent under
Gordon Brown’s other taxation policies. 

It is just par for the course
from this Government – and the poorest and least advantaged among local residents literally pay the price.