Back in 2009, David Cameron said his party would give
local councils much more power and responsibility. This agenda was the basis of
the 2011 Localism Act. But those reforms have been shattered by the 2016
Housing and Planning Act. The end to lifetime council tenancies, the
pay-to-stay rule increasing rents for council tenants earning more than
£40,000, and provisions to force local authorities to sell off their high-value
homes, will effectively kill off council housing. The extension of right-to-buy
privileges to housing associations also threatens to cause a wider decline in
affordable housing. But this is not just about housing. The new Act also has
immediate implications for local democracy, by giving no fewer than 32 new
powers to the secretary of state for housing. This means local authorities face
further financial pressures and will lose vital powers once granted by the
Localism Act. Read more on the Guardian website.
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