• GUESS who the Tories wheeled out last week on the Letters pages of this fine paper?

None other then their protégé, Nigel Rumble, who boasts being the proud tenant representative on the Chalcots; yet his party might as well have nominated him as their candidate in the equivalent political wilderness of Antarctica, instead of his home turf in Primrose Hill, (Camden must do much better on housing, April 21).

When he criticises the council for having empty homes, he omits to say that as a tenant representative he would have received regular updates from the council on why some of the empty homes have been reserved for residents living on the Chalcots.

This will enable residents living there to move temporarily in to them while the council carries out the more complex major works in their homes.

He also omits the fact that those who qualify most for rehousing in Camden, are more likely to be overcrowded families already living in smaller council flats. This means for every family we house there is another council flat which immediately becomes empty.

In the past year we have almost halved the average number of days a flat remains empty, saving the council £1million in lost rental income, and I accept we need to go even further.

But Mr Rumble conveniently chooses to ignore the £69million rental loss – a form of rent control imposed by the Conservative government on council homes in Camden, an eye-watering sum which would have refurbished and repaired all the properties he complains about multiple times over.

Despite his protestations, everyone can see right through the old Conservative agenda… starve council homes from the cash they need, then blame councils.

Having spoken to a number of residents in the Chalcots, what they told me at the doorsteps was that they cared more about the cost of living crisis. There was very little appetite for entertaining the attempted politicisation of the major works.

Perhaps Mr Rumble should pay more attention to that, and his party’s electioneering leaflets to ensure they don’t insult residents by spelling the name of the estate where he lives incorrectly.

CLLR MERIC APAK
Cabinet Member for Better Homes