Ex-council house smashes £1m barrier

The lack of affordable housing in London has long been a hotly debated issue that has attracted immense coverage, yet realistic solutions from politicians and mayoral hopefuls have been rare indeed. The government’s failure to ensure that the number of homes built in London increases year on year to meet the capital’s growing population has been well documented. Instead, we have become used to standing by while our so-called elected representatives, entrusted to safeguard and promote the interests of those who put them in public office, offer the customary empty rhetoric and assurances.

The result of this housing conundrum is that many ordinary Londoners are far removed from the prospect of ownership and instead rely on the perpetual cycle of the private and social rental markets, often falling prey to rogue landlords and poor or substandard housing conditions, usually as a result of disrepair.

It is therefore startling that, with dwindling council and social housing stock and the extension of the right to buy scheme to housing association tenants under the new Tory government, an ex-council two-bedroom, 700 sq ft flat in a 1950s block in Fulham has been put on the private market for £1.15 million, with the neighbouring property having sold for £1 million. This is expected to set a precedent in many desirable areas of London, with ex-council properties in Kensington and Bloomsbury coming on to the rental market for up to £30,000 a year.

Without an effective, concerted effort by both central and local government to tackle this growing problem, the crisis is sure to intensify, leaving many unfortunate Londoners living in substandard housing.