SCANDAL OF LABOUR GOVERNMENT'S LEVY ON ST ALBANS COUNCIL HOUSE RENTS

3.00.00pm GMT Mon 14th Jan 2008

• 38 pence in every pound of rent paid by local tenants goes straight to Government

The Labour Government's seizure of a large proportion of St Albans council house revenue is nothing less than a scandal

The Labour Government's seizure of a large proportion of St Albans council house revenue is nothing less than a scandal, said Sandy Walkington, Liberal Democrat candidate for St Albans.

"The Labour parliamentary candidate has recently highlighted the lack of affordable housing in St Albans. Well it's her Government in power and the most affordable housing of all is council housing - traditionally made available for the less well off. Can she therefore explain why her Government grabs into its own coffers an increasing proportion of the rent that local tenants pay?

"This year just under 38 pence in every pound paid by St Albans tenants has gone to Gordon Brown. £7.6 million pounds taken out of the pockets of some of the least well-off St Albans residents. Council tenants pay their taxes like everyone else. But unlike anyone else - home-owner or private renter - a great chunk of the rent money they pay to St Albans Council for their housing is additionally confiscated by central government."

The Government argues that the money goes to areas of 'housing need'. "This seems to be shorthand for inefficient Labour authorities in the north of England," Sandy said. "Of course better-off people expect to pay taxes to help the disadvantaged. That is what tax is for. But it seems positively bizarre and unfair that the less well-off in our community should be additionally taxed in this stealthy way.

"Instead of tenants' rents being devoted to repairs and improvements to their homes, it's being diverted to bale out Mr Brown.

"It is an even worse story when it comes to receipts from council house sales," Sandy said. "The Labour Government now confiscates 75 percent of the proceeds. How then can we build new affordable homes for the growing housing need in our area? How do we build new homes for our children who can't afford to buy property in St Albans? Or for incoming families working in key professions and sectors?."

St Albans led the country with its "Eco-house" in Smallford, a show-home for how traditional council houses can be brought up to the highest standards of energy efficiency. People have come to see it from all over the country. It has won a gold award in the prestigious Green Apple Awards, putting St Albans on the map as an innovative and ground-breaking housing authority.

"The idea was to learn the lessons in terms of cost-effective energy conservation measures and then extend them to the rest of the council housing stock - saving tenants money in fuel bills and reducing the district's carbon footprint," Sandy pointed out. "But by grabbing St Albans tenants' money in this way, the Labour Government makes it almost impossible for this sensible capital investment to be made."

"It seems ironic that a Labour Government should be so destructive of the social housing concept. But why should we be surprised when nationwide the lowest-earning ten percent of the population - the people most likely to be in council housing - already pay a higher percentage of their income in tax than the richest ten percent under Gordon Brown's policies?" he concluded. "It is just par for the course from this Government - and local residents are yet again the losers."

ENDS

For more information, please call Sandy Walkington on 07802 177317