Islington Labour secures important victory in fight to defend council homes from Tory sell-off plans.

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Islington Labour has been campaigning to protect vital council homes from Tory Government plans that could see as many as 300 homes forcibly sold-off each year, and the campaign scored an important victory this week with another U-turn by the Tories. 

Cllr Diarmaid Ward, Executive Member for Housing and Development at Islington Council, has been leading a Twitter campaign to urge Tory Secretary of State, Sajid Javid MP, to #StopTheSellOff of council homes. 

Now, in response to a letter from Cllr Ward and Labour housing lead members from councils across London, the Secretary of State has confirmed that the forced sale of council homes policy will not be introduced for at least two years. 

Cllr Diarmaid Ward, Executive Member for Housing and Development, said:

“Forcing councils to sell-off much needed council homes makes no sense. Islington would be the worst affected borough in the country by this Tory plan, with estimates suggesting we could lose around 300 homes per year, which is why we have been campaigning against this policy from the start.

“The Secretary of State’s announcement that councils will not be forced to sell homes for two years is a big win for our campaign, but we need the Government to drop this policy altogether.

“We will continue to campaign with local people against this unfair policy, and other damaging Tory housing plans, whilst continuing the largest council house building programme Islington has seen for 30 years.”

Islington Labour has joined with local campaigners to fight the Tories’ Housing and Planning Act since it was introduced in 2016. Alongside this important new victory, Islington Labour was instrumental in defeating the Tory Tenant Tax, which would have forced some council tenants to pay 15 per cent more tax. 

By 2020, under Islington Labour’s leadership, 3,000 new homes for council rent will have been delivered in the borough in a decade.

Pictured – Cllr Diarmaid Ward, Executive Member for Housing & Development at Islington Council 

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