'Housing Emergency' declared after fiery debate at Birmingham City Council

"I have constituents living in housing that I could not imagine me or my family living in" says anonymous Labour Councillor

Image Credit: Birmingham Conservatives. Cllr Ken Wood

Earlier this month, at the full council meeting of Birmingham City Council, Conservative Councillor Ken Wood introduced a motion along with Councillor Adrian Delaney to hold the council to account for the dire situation many tenants have to live in due to council malpractice.

Councillor Wood who is the shadow cabinet member for Housing, spoke of his experience of growing up in a council house in Scotland where he could take pride in his house and area. He said ‘I believe that our tenants in Birmingham should also be able to take pride in the house that the Council provided them with.’

‘Sadly that isn’t the case in a lot of instances.’

This comes after 15,000 complaints of mould and damp which makes up 25% of Birmingham CIty Councils housing supply. With Michael Gove the Secretary of State responsible for Housing, calling the Council’s housing stock disgraceful.

Councillor Wood called Birmingham City Council an ‘embarrassment’ over their handling of housing in Birmingham.

In a recent leaked equalities report an anonymous Birmingham Labour Councillor said this about their own administration, ‘I have constituents living in housing that I could not imagine me or my family living in… yet we have our priorities wrong focusing on vanity projects.’ Which is a shocking indictment on the Labour-run administration of Birmingham City Council.

The motion Conservatives wanted to pass was for every Council tenant to live in a ‘decent’ home. 

Compared to the Conservatives’ record when running Birmingham City Council the Labour administration has been disgraceful. When the Conservatives took charge in 2004, the suitable council housing was at a poultry 30% and they got it up to 99% by 2012, the year they lost power. It has since then been depleted. This is particularly shocking since housing funding has been protected from cuts meaning the likely cause is sheer incompetence. 

Green Party Councillor Julian Pritchard agreed with much Councillors Wood and Delaney had said and mentioned that urgent repairs were taking weeks to fix. He spoke of a resident in his ward whose child had to go to hospital due to an asthma attack caused by damp and mould.

The Greens put forward a motion that homes should be in a fit state before residents move in which is shocking for many that Birmingham Labour does not already do this. Many residents are being put into homes with no electricity or heating and have to fight to get this repaired.

Cabinet member for Housing Sharon Thompson blamed national issues and central government for issues being discussed and fell short of taking responsibility.

Conservative group leader Robert Alden noted that Birmingham Labour are underperforming well below the national average and in 2012 the Conservative Council outperformed the national average which shows this is less of a national issue and a Birmingham Labour issue.

Following this debate the Council has declared a housing emergency to highlight the dire situation that brummies are living in.

By Jack Dixon