Right to Buy hits Pimlico Rents for Westminster Council

Margaret Thatcher

An interesting article today in Social Housing and Local Government news website http://www.24dash.com about how Right To Buy has affected Westminster Council.

Nearly half of Westminster’s 22,000 council homes have been sold through Right-to-Buy in the past 30 years, and because government rules don’t allow local authorities to keep the proceeds of sale the properties haven’t been replaced by further social housing. Of course many of the flats purchased under Rent to Buy have been recycled into Private Sector renting – I personally know of 4 people who were able to retire to the country in middle age on the proceeds of the Right to Buy windfall which could be as much as several hundred thousand pounds in extreme cases.

This has left the council with a situation where they are paying housing benefit to tenants who are renting ex-council properties from private landlords – and this costs the council around four times the rent charged for a council home rented directly from the council, and on occasions up to five or six times the council rent.

What a mess – but probably not a mess that the government wishes to acknowledge as it stems from a conservative policy a generation ago, rather than something that can be neatly pinned on the last government.

Tags: Government, Housing Benefit, Landlord, Local government, London, Margaret Thatcher, Pimlico, Renting, Westminster, Westminster City Council
Posted in London, Property on April 17th, 2012 | 1 Comment »

London is Leaving Town for the Olympics

200 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A recent survey conducted by holiday home specialists Owners Direct has revealed that 50% of Brits in the South East who plan to, or have already rented out their homes for the Olympics are looking to escape the UK for a Mediterranean break. Owners Direct has also seen almost a 90% rise in enquiries during 2012 to date for the London area and an 80% increase for surrounding areas such as Essex.

As a result of increased demand for properties near the Olympic sites next summer, Owners Direct have launched a service specifically to cater to the needs of those looking for short term let options. Launched at the end of October last year, it offers landlords a cost effective way to market their homes to people all over the world who are looking for accommodation during the Olympics.

With over 50% of people who took part in the study who own a holiday home in the South East already having received enquiries for the 2012 games, Marketing Manager Angela Southall said the company was keen to extend their offering to people who didn’t need to list their properties for a long period of time.

“We have launched a service that will allow homeowners who wouldn’t normally rent out their properties to do so for a short time. “We’ve been amazed at how many people are willing to pack up their lives and find a roof elsewhere for a few weeks!” says Angela Southall.

Home owners can take advantage of the two month trial listing, available exclusively to UK owners, by visiting www.ownersdirect.co.uk quoting UK49

Tags: 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Olympic, Olympic Games, Tourism
Posted in London, Property on March 20th, 2012 | No Comments »

How Pimlico Residents use the Internet

Westminster Council did a survey of our technological habits as part of a plan to justify an expansion of its digital services. There are some interesting insights into the average Pimlico Resident’s life in the survey, but my own concern is that WCC seem to have little concern for customer service, success for WCC involves passing it’s problems on to it’s residents. A future blog will analyse WCC’s own use of IT, meanwhile here are the results of their analysis of OUR use ………….

Pimlico residents exceed national averages in all areas of digital and wireless communication:
Nationally 30 per cent own smartphones but 64 per cent of Pimlico residents own one.
6% of the UK own a tablet against 19 per cent of residents in Pimlico.
86 per cent of residents are connected to the internet at home, rising to 94 per cent in the 16-44 year age bracket.
Online interactions between residents and the local authority cost the Council only 17p per interaction, whereas a face-to-face interaction between the Council and a resident can cost £14.
Online interactions cost the taxpayer only 1% of the cost of a face-to-face transaction.
WCC have a deal with O2 to provide free WiFi in time for the Olympics, and of course Pimlico Flats provides wired and wireless internet access to tenants free of charge.

Clearly Pimlico Residents make a much greater use of the Internet, Mobile Computing, and Social Media, than the Nation as a whole.

A statement by the Council says “The Council can harness this by expanding the online options for contacting the Council, improving its website, and stepping up its digital publications to save real money for the taxpayer. WCC has already shown its commitment to becoming the UK’s most digitalized city, and we will continue to expand our online options to provide excellent value for money to our residents.”

Fine words, but what is good for the council isn’t necessarily good for the residents …….

Tags: Central London, Internet, London, London Life, Olympic, Olympic Games, Pimlico, Tourism, Westminster, Westminster City Council, Westminster Council, Wi-Fi
Posted in London, Pimlico Flats on March 18th, 2012 | No Comments »

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