No 10 Plays Down Flint’s Social Housing Plan

Downing Street today appeared to back away from proposals floated by the housing minister Caroline Flint for social housing residents to seek work as a condition of their tenancy.

The prime minister’s spokesman stressed that the idea, which was proposed by Flint in an interview in the Guardian, was only a subject for debate and that it was not a firm policy commitment.

He described the suggestion as “a good issue to have a debate about” after the proposal was widely criticised by MPs and charities, who accused Flint of wanting to return Britain to the age of the workhouse and of stigmatising families living on council estates.

In an a exclusive interview with the Guardian, Flint said up to one million people in social housing, including those on council estates, should look for jobs as a condition of receiving housing.

New tenants would sign “commitment contracts” agreeing to look for work as part of their tenancy conditions. If they failed, they could lose their council homes. The contracts could be extended to existing tenants in future.

Flint said her proposals were aimed at tackling the culture of “no one works round here” and included opening up more job centres on the estates themselves.

But the housing minister has been attacked by fellow MPs for introducing proposals that cannot be legally enforced, in a bid to “grab the headlines”.

When asked whether Gordon Brown was in favour of the idea, the spokesman refused to back the idea.

“‘[The prime minister] thinks in principle it’s a good issue to be debated,” the spokesman told reporters.

But the spokesman also insisted that Brown was “happy” for Flint to have raised the idea.

Grant Shapps, the shadow housing minister, said: “Ministers and local councils have a statutory duty to house homeless families with children and so they can’t boot them out of their houses without then providing alternative accommodation.

“What we’ve heard is classic Labour spin – designed to sound tough, but is in reality meaningless.” His view was echoed by David Orr, the chief executive of the National Housing Federation, who said: “such a policy would be unfair and impossible to enforce.

“Many of the jobs open to people, especially at the lower skills end, are insecure or temporary. Also, people with health problems, such as mental health issues, may find there are periods when they cannot keep up their job.”

Adam Sampson, the chief executive of the housing charity Shelter, said Flint’s ideas would send Britain back to the Victorian era.

“The government wants to return Britain’s unemployed to the workhouse by throwing them onto the streets,” he said.

“What is being proposed would destroy families and communities and add to the thousands who are already homeless.

“We accept there’s a problem with some unemployed people shying away from work, but the government must find other ways to tackle the issue like revamping the housing benefit system.

“Making people homeless means they do not have an address, which makes it even more difficult to find work.”

Nearly half of all social housing is in the most deprived fifth of neighbourhoods. Pressure groups say Flint’s proposals would stigmatise families living in those areas.

Alan Walter, the chairman of Defend Council Housing, said: “This is obviously part of a long-running strategy to try and stigmatise council housing as housing of last resort.

“It runs alongside continuing blackmail on tenants and councils to privatise council homes, asset-stripping public land for private development and forcing people into the private market.”

Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison, said: “Council house tenants are being stigmatised. They are increasingly the poorest families and the housing is located in the most deprived neighbourhoods.

“But the idea that they are all jobless will hardly make council housing attractive to young professional workers looking for affordable homes. We need to rebalance the debate so that renting and owning have equal weight.”

The chief executive of Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people, said social housing should to help the homeless to find work, not prevent them from rebuilding their lives.

Leslie Morphy said: “Our experience at Crisis shows that encouragement and enablement – and not threats – are the way to help homeless and vulnerable people to build independent lives.”

Flint officially announced her proposals in a speech to the Fabian Society today.

She said: “Council and social housing must continue to support the most vulnerable in society, but it should also be a springboard to opportunity, not just a safety net.”

Statistics reveal the number of unemployed council tenants has risen by 20% to 55% since 1981. Flint’s proposals would also see unemployed tenants undergoing skills audits to ensure they are suitable for work.