What is Defend Council Housing?

It is a pressure group which believes that public social housing should remain public.

In principle, it campaigns for exactly the same objectives as Housing Choice, i.e., the provision of social housing which is up to Decent Homes Standard, but it wants this done through direct government funding.

It feels that transfer to a Housing Association, which it refers to as "privatisation" (though there are no dividends from Housing Associations to share holders) is a bad thing. Its reasons are included here, since, despite the sensationalist tone, they make important points, which the ESG has been aware of in the course of its negotiations, first to find an RSL, and then to work with it to formulate the offer documents and business plan.

Although they don't say so too much on their web site, they could equally be described as the "Defend Council Staff and Practices" campaign.

Well, the council hasn't had enough moeny to do a proper job for years, it's true, but the thing that seems to get most of us angry has been our experience of dealing with the Council's culture ...