‘I understand local anger’ Councillor David Taylor, as Havering Council approve £10million to buy family homes for refugees.
News from St Edwards ward Councillor David Taylor.
Havering Council has approved a spend of £10m, to be matched by £6.5m from the GLA, in order to purchase family homes for local refugees. The decision to approve the scheme was scrutinised by Councillors on 27th September, who ultimately agreed with the administration.
The GLA will provide Havering with a grant of £6.5m to cover a proportion of the cost of purchasing homes for Afghan and Ukrainian refugees in Havering. The grant was conditional on Havering also contributing funding and will result in an estimated 50 homes being purchased by the end of the financial year. Havering’s contribution of £10m will be funded through borrowing.
Havering Councillors received a presentation on the scheme and were informed that refugees will be given a 3-year tenancy, after which the homes will be able to be used by those on the local housing waiting list.
Homes must be purchased within the borough and the council’s plans focus on family homes.
The decision was met with anger by some local residents, who view the decision as not putting local people first.
Opposition Councillor, David Taylor, lead a call-in of the plan for further scrutiny.
“I can understand the anger”, Councillor Taylor said, “This administration must show that they are also going to support local residents who have been on the waiting list for a long time.
I couldn’t let this decision go through without us going over it with fine toothcomb. Councillors from all parties took part in the scrutiny and we all raised concerns.
It is right that we support those fleeing Putin’s horrific war. We must now, also, see some initiative in supporting local families. “
“Ultimately, this looks like a sensible thing to do.
Havering has too many families in temporary accommodation, such as in hotels or B&Bs and the council is struggling to meet the cost of this. By accepting this grant, it guarantees an extra 50 homes in the near future. 20 of which are essentially at no cost to Havering Council.
Our scrutiny showed that this will reduce costs for the council. I will be using my position as Committee Chairman to ensure we review the progress in 3 months time”.
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So havering council are on the verge of declaring themselves bankrupt, and they come up with millions of pounds to house Ukraine and Afghanistan refugees, why are we housing Afghan refugees?
I had sympathy with the council due to lack of funding but this boils my bloody . Disgusting
Do people read a story. Like the one from David and accept it as fact without any back-checking?
David often twists information to suit his cause.
Are you suggesting anything particular in the article isn’t accurate? Or are you, yet again, simply trying to stain my character? A strange accusation, “twists information”, given politicians on all side (including you and yours) do the same.
This isn’t the politics Havering wants. Let’s stick to discussing and debating policies, not targeting individuals and trying to smear them. If you’d like to push back on any of the above, then let THD know and I’m sure they’ll publish something.