Tories forced into string of embarrassing U-turns over their ‘half-baked’ council homes sell-off

Last Updated: April 14, 2016By
A glum day for David Cameron and George Osborne.

A glum day for David Cameron and George Osborne.

David Cameron has been forced into a string of embarrassing U-turns over his “half-baked” Housing Bill.

Campaigners claimed victory as his flagship vows to launch Starter Homes and extend the Right to Buy took a battering in Parliament.

The Prime Minister wants to force councils to sell their most valuable homes and use the cash to give housing association tenants the Right to Buy.

He also wants to replace affordable housing with Starter Homes costing up to £250,000 – or £450,000 in London.

But peers in the House of Lords warned the “devastating” schemes would rob councils to feed government and could see social housing “wiped out utterly”.

Ministers offered a long list of compromises to prevent a stand-off between the Commons and the Lords:

  • Sold-off council homes will now have to be replaced one-for-one – a move which was in the Tory manifesto but not the law.
  • Councils will no longer be forced to sell valuable homes if they are in national parks or areas of outstanding natural beauty.
  • It will be harder for landlords to evict vulnerable people they think have abandoned their homes.
  • Councils could have more control over which homes they sell after the definition changed from “high value” to “higher value”.

The climbdowns come days after the Tories were defeated over plans to let Starter Home buyers trouser £100,000 of taxpayer cash after just five years.

Source: Tories forced into string of embarrassing U-turns over their ‘half-baked’ council homes sell-off – Mirror Online

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One Comment

  1. Terry Davies April 15, 2016 at 8:17 am - Reply

    Everyone must know my opinions of tories and this corrupt government. they have proven time and time again to be lacking in morals, self interested and corrupt in their policy making.
    They have penalised the poor and indirectly ‘stole’ NHS health care and public sector services to transfer them to greedy private companies.
    Their incompetency is apparently designed to create hardship for those on low income with deceitful policies and other regulations intended to transfer more wealth to greedy shareholders.
    All these are now in the public domain so I will take less participation in these debates.
    rest assured i will never actively support or otherwise any right wing parties which are not conducive to survival of the human species. Tories are an example of right wing politics basing their economic ‘theories on greed not survival, and self interest, not interests of the collective, and deceit not honesty.
    Its unlikely Cameron, osborne, crabb etc. have ever been truthful in their speeches or voting intentions.
    good luck, keep up the good work.

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