• THIS week I have heard that two housing association properties in Islington are to be auctioned this month: 19a Chatterton Road, N4 (a maisonette) belonging to Mosaic Housing Association, to be auctioned by Allsops (no “guide price” given); and 74 Tollington Park, N4 (comprising four flats) to be auctioned by Savills “by order of a housing association”. Guide price is £1,195,000.

So this month there will be five homes fewer which could be used to house some of the 14,000 households on Isling­ton’s waiting list or homeless people living on the street. Our precious social housing stock is being reduced a little bit more.

To add insult to injury, the private developers or individuals who buy these properties may rent them out at market rates, including to Islington Council.

Each month, Allsops, Savills and other companies auction housing association properties from all over the UK, many of them in London.

Until 2015, housing associations were defined as social homes providers. Now deregulated since 2016, they are selling homes with no accountability to anyone, while creating further despair and desperation on the part of those in the area who urgently need a home.

On February 7, Jim Strange, president of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: “Our analysis shows we lost more than 165,000 homes for social rent in just six years between 2012 and 2018 – and that figure could reach 199,000 by 2020 if we don’t take action now.”

Although this figure may include the sale of council homes, I hope that the council will bring to bear on housing associations in the borough all the power at its disposal to prevent this iniquitous selling off and auctioning of social homes.

For its part, the Labour Party should make it an urgent priority to re-regulate housing associations.

A HOUSING ASSOCIATION TENANT LIVING IN ISLINGTON
(Name and address supplied)