In a response to Siân Berry’s letter advocating for Labour councils to “buy the supply” of landlord homes to increase social housing, Bella Sankey, the Labour leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, has highlighted the progressive steps her council is already taking in this direction.
Sankey points out that the Labour council in Brighton and Hove is indeed pursuing this very policy, which was featured in the Guardian last year. She suggests that while the Greens may be adept at “soundbites and writing letters,” they have often shown little interest in actual policy implementation.
The article notes that during the Greens’ time running Brighton and Hove City Council, there was a lack of progress in expanding recycling and city-wide decarbonisation, which the Labour council is now working to rectify. On housing, the Green’s record was even worse, with a backlog of council house repairs reaching record levels, the lapse of houses of multiple occupation licensing, and a failure to roll out landlord licensing, despite the “housing is a human right” rhetoric.
Sankey firmly states that if Siân Berry, who represents Brighton and Hove as an MP, wants to see a progressive council buying housing stock into public ownership, she need look no further than the Labour council and the work they are doing in the city.
This response highlights the Labour council’s proactive approach to addressing the social housing crisis, in contrast with the Greens’ perceived lack of tangible policy implementation. It serves as a data-driven, financially-focused rebuttal to Berry’s letter, emphasising the Labour council’s progressive housing policies in Brighton and Hove.
