Single Aspect Blog

This is so good I’m copying from the Guardian with a link to the full article …

The great turning points in terms of UK General Elections were 1945 and 1979. The Attlee victory in 1945 ushered in a new era of public ownership and state intervention as the UK sought to rebuild the nation after a decade and a half of war and depression. The country was shattered, exhausted, its economy broken, its infrastructure in tatters. Workers were in no mood to return to the pre-war days of the 1930’s and were demanding a better deal, a land fit for heroes. … read on

I agree with every word of it and encourage anybody thinking of voting Tory to think again. John Crace already calls May Kim-Jong-May and for good reason. She decided on an election the day after Erdogan won his narrow victory in Turkey. Coincidence or not?

Southwark News reports that leaseholders in Peckham are facing a large bill for major works. This has always been one of the downsides of being either a first (got the discount) or second generation (didn’t get the discount) right to buy leaseholder. I made a comment below the article in the hope of starting a discussion but this hasn’t happened and so I’m going to repeat the comment here:-

“Refund those leaseholders who so choose the money they paid for the flats in the first place and change their terms back to those of a council tenant. Both parties gain. The leaseholder gets a lump sum, keeps their home and the council gets a property back on their books.”

That’s what I think. This is a very clear cut and specific case. This is not like regeneration where a leaseholder tackles a loss of home and the estate, this is a case where there ought to be (in my opinion) a straight foward buy back option by the council so that a leaseholder not able to afford the major works bill can return to being a council tenant by a refund of the money they paid for the flat.

The alternative is worse in that they would probably be repossessed and made homeless and I fear an application to the council for emergency housing under those circumstances might go badly.

The whole thing is a mess created by right to buy but we are where we are.

https://www.southwarknews.co.uk/news/peckham-estate-leaseholders-hit-115000-major-works-bills-council/#.WQWtAT3Jewc.twitter