Defend Council Housing

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Conference
2003 National Delegate Conference
Date
25 February 2003
Decision
Remitted

We welcome the success of the 29 January 2003 lobby for council housing and endorse the six demands put forward to stop privatisation and win investment without strings:

1)end all daylight robbery tax on tenants’ rents;

2)free councils to borrow for investment;

3)return all capital receipts to fund investment in our homes;

4)write-off all Housing Revenue Account debt – not just for councils who transfer;

5)fund council borrowing through an investment allowance;

6)use Local Authority Social Housing Grant to build new council homes.

For council tenants, including many of our members, privatisation means loss of security of tenure, more evictions, higher rents and landlords who are accountable to the banks not the tenants. For council workers it means worse pay, conditions and pensions and weaker trade union organisation. Jobs in other local authority services are also threatened if housing departments are transferred.

UNISON continues to support and affiliate to Defend Council Housing, to oppose privatisation and the blackmailing of tenants to accept transfer, PFI or Arms Length Management as the only way to get investment in their homes. We actively support the DCH strategy for opposing privatisation of council housing by building united local campaigns involving tenants, trade unions, councillors, MPs and others; campaigning on estates and door to door and linking into the national DCH campaign to stop privatisation and win investment in council housing with no strings attached.