Labour candidates in Reading have written to Council tenants with a stark warning of Tory plans as revealed in secret meetings attended by Tory Shadow Housing Minister Grant Shapps the minutes of which have been leaked to Housing Minister John Healey MP.
Naz Sarkar says the minutes, which David Cameron has been challenged to disown but has not done so, show an intention to raise Council house rents to equal those in the private sector, which would be a huge blow to many hard-working families.
"Mr Shapps is also planning," he says, "to end Council tenants' security of tenure, which means they can currently remain in their home so long as they pay the rent and stick by their conditions of tenancy. The Tories plan to replace it with the Assured Shorthold Tenancy used increasingly in the private sector, which has to be renewed every six months, and basically gives tenants no security at all.
"This means if they want to tear down part of a Council estate and build for private sale, they can just do it, with no thought at all for the community that lives there. What Lady Porter did in Wandsworth all those years ago could be happening soon in a Council estate near you. The Tories may be promoting a Big Society, but they don't see Council tenants as having any part in it.
"Local Tories have condemned these letters as scare-mongering. Well, they would say that, wouldn't they! The evidence of those minutes is actually very clear, and very frightening."
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