Little London tenants prepare to lobby council for crunch decision

It's decision time again for Little London - and we will be there to say 'no' to PFI.

This coming Wednesday, (17 May), tenants of Little London will gather outside the Civic Hall to demand that Leeds City Council immediately suspends its privatisation plans for their estate that will see 435 council homes sold off or demolished and hundreds of tenants forced to leave their homes and community.

The lobby has been called to pressure the monthly Council Executive meeting (1pm) at which Councillors will decide whether to or not to go ahead with an £85m Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme - called the 'Comprehensive Regeneration Option' – to redesign the area and build hundreds of private houses and flats for wealthier city workers.

Anywhere between 450 and 800 tenants, some who have lived in the area for as long as 80 years, will be forced to leave their homes to enable private developers to make £millions in profit. The Council has refused to guarantee that tenants forced out of their existing homes will be rehoused in the estate.

Contrary to Leeds City Council's misinformation campaign, tenants and residents of Little London have NOT backed the PFI scheme. There has been no ballot and despite enduring a completely biased consultation process in favour of the PFI scheme, 63% of tenants in Little London refused to endorse the Council's plans. This is backed by a petition circulated by the Little London Tenants & Residents Association (LLTRA) and signed by more than 500 residents – around a third of the estate - that opposes any demolitions or the sale of properties that would force people out of their own community.

Steve Skinner, a council tenant and member of Save Little London campaign:

"Leeds City Council pretends it wants to regenerate council housing yet it is going to get rid of 310 council homes in Little London and 10,000 across the city. It says it has 'consulted' the community yet since 2000, Little London has been effectively blackmailed by the Council in an appalling undemocratic process. From ignored ballots to biased information, to bare-faced lies in public meetings, the Council has completely abused its power to rail road this back door privatisation through. What people need to ask is - who benefits from privatising tower blocks and bulldozing homes? Is it poor working class families local to Leeds, or wealthy city workers and private property developers? I think we all know the answer."

An alternative option, the more modest £20m Decent Homes scheme, would bring homes on the estate up to the government's minimum standard without reducing the council housing stock or evicting local residents. Despite this, it is expected that Wednesday's Council Executive will decide to ignore opposition and go ahead with the Comprehensive Regeneration Option. Council officers last week admitted that they had already put the PFI bid in, subject to formal approval. However, tenants are not going to lie down and die quietly.

An alliance of residents plan to lodge a formal complaint with both the Local Government Ombudsmen and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which has ultimate responsibility for council house regeneration. Individual tenants are also beginning private legal proceedings.