Trade union accuses Labour council of ignoring social housing targets

A leading trade union has stepped up its attack on Barking and Dagenham council over the level of affordable and social housing in developments being built across the east London borough.

The GMB, which last month accused the Labour-controlled local authority of “gentrification” over its plans to revamp a site in Barking currently occupied by a derelict office block and car park, said only 16% of a planned 9,700 homes to be built by the council-owned development firm Be First in the next four years would be social or affordable housing.

The union’s regional secretary Warren Kenny said: “This is way out of line with the policy set out by the Labour Party nationally that the majority of the new homes planned to be built over 10 years should be genuinely social housing.

“GMB is calling on Labour councillors and the Labour Party MPs in the borough to call in the plans of the council owned Be First Regeneration Ltd for social housing. These elected councillors and MPs have to insist that the Barking and Dagenham-owned Be First Regeneration Ltd development vehicle substantially increases the target for social housing.”

Kenny said that pricing 84% of the new homes planned by Be First Regeneration out of the reach of lower paid workers “was an act of calculated cynicism by the well paid out of touch elite in charge”.

A spokesman for the council said the claims made by the GMB did not add up. “The business plan clearly states that over 70% of the total homes Be First expects to build directly will be affordable – that’s at least 1,600 out of 2,200.

“The other homes referred to will be delivered by private developers and will be expected to include quantities of social housing ranging from 35% to 50% depending on the ownership of the land. There may be exceptions, but they will be subject to viability assessments which we will use to ensure that these minimum standards are met as per the Mayor of London’s guidelines.

“Barking and Dagenham is one of the top three councils in London for delivering affordable housing for our residents and we are proud of our record.”

With London setting itself a target of delivering 43,500 homes a year the level of affordable and social housing in the capital has become a key political issue.

Last September Mayor of London Sadiq Khan told the London Assembly his planning guidance had an expectation of a strategic target of 50% affordable housing in a residential scheme, as per the new London Plan, although this could be nudged lower to 35% if a developer could guarantee that figure there and then.

But in November the Affordable Housing Monitor, which is published annually, said the mayor had received £4.82bn to deliver 116,000 affordable home starts by March 2022 but fewer than 5,500 homes were completed in the year 2017/2018.

The GMB also called on Barking and Dagenham to explain why accounts for Be First Regeneration Ltd were late being delivered to Companies House.

The council spokesman said Be First’s first set of accounts had been due to be filed on 23 November last year, but the company failed to meet this deadline “due to delays in the external audit process which took longer than normal as this was the first year of operation.

“This delay was discussed with Companies House. However they started their normal procedural process for audit delay.”

Companies House rules meant this could have resulted in the firm being struck off the register, although that has been averted after talks with the firm.

“There is no question of public funds being misused,” the council’s spokesman added.