Agenda item

10.00pm – Councillor Andrew Jones moved, seconded by Councillor Zarar Qayyum, the special motion in their names:

 

“This Council thanks the Labour administration for winning the return of the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates and agrees the former Conservative administration should never have sold them in the first place.

 

The Council notes that as well as it being morally wrong for the former Conservative administration to have sold the estates against the residents’ wishes, it was also one of the worst property deals done by any local authority in modern history.

 

The Council notes with alarm that:

·         At the time of the sale to Capital and Counties Properties Plc (Capco), the whole Earls Court scheme was valued at £12.05billion but that the two estates, which comprise 20.87 acres and make a high proportion of the Earls Court scheme were sold for just £110million.

·         The Conservative administration negotiated just 11% ‘affordable’ housing – most of which would have been unaffordable to local people.

·         The deal done on replacement council homes was not linked to inflation and therefore not sufficient to provide replacement homes for the vast majority of residents. That meant:

o   The vast majority of tenants would not have been given new homes on the scheme and would have needed to be re-housed elsewhere

o   Leaseholders and freeholders would only have been given the legal minimum sum and therefore unlikely to afford to stay in Hammersmith & Fulham

o   Temporary tenants would not have been re-housed in this deal.

 

The Council recognises that the Conservative administration planned a similar approach for the rest of the borough’s council housing and had talks with developers about doing the same to residents’ homes on:

o   The Clem Atlee estate

o   The Queen Caroline estate

o   Ashcroft Square

o   Linacre Court

o   The White City estate

o   And many others

 

The Council also notes that the Capco Earls Court scheme was deemed undeliverable and that the company was openly seeking a larger masterplan to further increase the value of the scheme while travelling around the world trying to sell the whole Earls Court scheme, including our residents’ homes, to a variety of buyers in China, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere.

 

The Council also notes how Capco’s Earls Court scheme collapsed in value and was sold in November 2019 for just £425million.

 

The Council calls on Hammersmith & Fulham’s Conservative councillors, and Greg Hands MP to apologise for their active and ignorant support of Capco’s dreadful Earls Court scheme and for their local party causing such huge levels of anxiety and worry to thousands of people living on the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates and to people living in council homes across the borough.

 

The Council thanks the residents of the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates for their bold fight and their resilience and welcomes them back.”

 

NOTE: There was a short adjournment from 10.06pm until 10.11pm.

 

Speeches on the special motion were made by Councillors Andrew Jones, Zarar Qayyum, Lisa Homan, Sharon Holder, Patricia Quigley, and Stephen Cowan (for the Administration) – and Councillor Andrew Brown (for the Opposition).

 

Under Standing Order 15(e)(6) Councillor Larry Culhane moved, seconded by Zarar Qayyum, an amendment in their names:

 

“Add the following after the final sentence, which finishes: ‘welcomes them back’:

 

The Council recognises that there are many unanswered questions about the deal it did with Capital and Counties Properties Plc when it sold all the land holdings that were listed in the Conditional Land Sale Agreement including the West Kensington and Gibbs Green Estates.

 

It agrees to undertake a public review to investigate and examine all aspects of that deal and the consultation it undertook with the local residents who were affected.”

 

Speeches on the amendment to the special motion were made by Councillors Larry Culhane, Zarar Qayyum, Stephen Cowan and Ben Coleman (for the Administration) – and Councillor Andrew Brown (for the Opposition).

 

The amendment was put to the vote:

 

FOR                            30

AGAINST                   9

NOT VOTING                        0

 

The amendment was declared CARRIED.

 

Councillor Andrew Jones summed up the debate then the amended motion was put to the vote:

 

FOR                            31

AGAINST                   9

NOT VOTING                        0

 

The amended special motion was declared CARRIED.

 

11.10pm – RESOLVED:

 

This Council thanks the Labour administration for winning the return of the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates and agrees the former Conservative administration should never have sold them in the first place.

 

The Council notes that as well as it being morally wrong for the former Conservative administration to have sold the estates against the residents’ wishes, it was also one of the worst property deals done by any local authority in modern history.

 

The Council notes with alarm that:

·         At the time of the sale to Capital and Counties Properties Plc (Capco), the whole Earls Court scheme was valued at £12.05billion but that the two estates, which comprise 20.87 acres and make a high proportion of the Earls Court scheme were sold for just £110million.

·         The Conservative administration negotiated just 11% ‘affordable’ housing – most of which would have been unaffordable to local people.

·         The deal done on replacement council homes was not linked to inflation and therefore not sufficient to provide replacement homes for the vast majority of residents. That meant:

o   The vast majority of tenants would not have been given new homes on the scheme and would have needed to be re-housed elsewhere

o   Leaseholders and freeholders would only have been given the legal minimum sum and therefore unlikely to afford to stay in Hammersmith & Fulham

o   Temporary tenants would not have been re-housed in this deal.

 

The Council recognises that the Conservative administration planned a similar approach for the rest of the borough’s council housing and had talks with developers about doing the same to residents’ homes on:

o   The Clem Atlee estate

o   The Queen Caroline estate

o   Ashcroft Square

o   Linacre Court

o   The White City estate

o   And many others

 

The Council also notes that the Capco Earls Court scheme was deemed undeliverable and that the company was openly seeking a larger masterplan to further increase the value of the scheme while travelling around the world trying to sell the whole Earls Court scheme, including our residents’ homes, to a variety of buyers in China, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere.

 

The Council also notes how Capco’s Earls Court scheme collapsed in value and was sold in November 2019 for just £425million.

 

The Council calls on Hammersmith & Fulham’s Conservative councillors, and Greg Hands MP to apologise for their active and ignorant support of Capco’s dreadful Earls Court scheme and for their local party causing such huge levels of anxiety and worry to thousands of people living on the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates and to people living in council homes across the borough.

 

The Council thanks the residents of the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates for their bold fight and their resilience and welcomes them back.

 

The Council recognises that there are many unanswered questions about the deal it did with Capital and Counties Properties Plc when it sold all the land holdings that were listed in the Conditional Land Sale Agreement including the West Kensington and Gibbs Green Estates.

 

It agrees to undertake a public review to investigate and examine all aspects of that deal and the consultation it undertook with the local residents who were affected.