There is income pooling within the council. Unfortunately for many years the money paid by Longfield estate tenants and the costs of running the estate have been swallowed up by local and national rent and cost pooling. Where we are on firm ground is the knowledge that if the rents paid over the years by Longfield estate tenants had been ring-fenced between when the estate was built and today, the debt would have been paid off, the management and maintenance costs covered and there would be a substantial surplus to pay for the extensive modernisation of the estate. The estate built by the old Bermondsey Borough Council, would have been funded by a mixture of government subsidy and local authority rates (now council tax) and borrowing. If we can understand why residents on the Longfield estate are having to wait for their estate to be decorated we will understand the way council housing is funded, or rather underfunded. It is typical of thousands of estates across the country. The active Tenants and Residents Association has successfully campaigned for an outdoor gym and children’s play facilities. Walking around the estate, it is as well-kept as it can be without major investment, with no signs of any vandalism. On top of this is the cost of fire safety works, keeping lifts working and buildings watertight.
Andy bates plus#
The cost of keeping Southwark’s communal heating systems working, plus decarbonisation is £350m. Stephanie runs through the major works needed across the borough.
The councillors are asking for the communal staircases to be painted. The kitchens are small because middle class architects thought working class families spent too much time in the kitchen and should spend their time together in the living room. There is a big archway built into one of the blocks for coal horses to pass through and the older blocks are only four floors high so the coal man would not have to walk up too far. Next to one of the old blocks are steps down to an air raid shelter, bricked-up when the war ended. On a cold January morning local councillors, tenants’ reps and Stephanie Cryan, Southwark’s lead councillor for housing, are walking around the Longfield estate in South Bermondsey.
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