Johnson's housing crime scene

James Ivens, Lambeth and South West London Socialist Party

If you believed a word from London's Tory mayor Boris Johnson, you might think he was committed to building affordable housing. Events in Raines Park, in the south west London borough of Merton, show exactly the opposite.

"Raynesfield" is a development of 28 homes owned by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime. Originally it housed police officers, but when this ceased, the homes were offered to other public sector workers. Many tenants have been there for twenty years or more. From 28 October onwards, the housing association that manages it will be evicting them.

Selling the site to one of his developer chums is more important to Johnson than housing key workers. And the money will be useful for buying water cannon and other extravagant repressive equipment to boost his Tory leadership credentials.

Hijacked

Johnson has hijacked affordable housing funding in London. Rather than providing homes with permanent tenancies at affordable rents, the funding is used to subsidise developers' overpriced, exclusive schemes. So called affordable housing requires household incomes of over Ł60,000!

As one of Johnson's supporters said, "Even City solicitors need affordable housing."

People with a housing need, including police officers, will find they need to look elsewhere. The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC), which includes the Socialist Party, has committed to a mass house building programme - at genuinely affordable rents.

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