Clive Walder, Birmingham South Socialist Party
Brutal cuts to services worth hundreds of millions of pounds, and a 21% council tax hike. Now Birmingham City Council is selling off accommodation built to house athletes at the 2022 Commonwealth Games at a loss of £320 million.
The apartments were built too late to serve their intended purpose, because of delays caused by lockdown, and have stood empty ever since. The council has been paying to heat and secure them since, deriving no revenue.
Brummies have been told that the Games made a profit, but this particular development cost £325 million, of which £292 million was borrowed. After selling off the homes, it is expected that up to £152 million of debt will remain unpaid.
The council said it would be homes for local people after the Games finished but now they consider that this sale is the best option. All the council will get is a mere 213 units for social housing when there are 23,000 households on the waiting list for social housing in the city.
Incredibly, the council states it has been unable to sell the flats due to a lack of “market appetite” for one- and two-bedroom apartments in the area. Try telling that to people on the housing waiting list!
The loss will be paid for by cuts to even more local services. The way to stop that is to fight against all the cuts carried out by the Labour council, under orders from unelected government-appointed commissioner, Max ‘the axe’ Caller.
Ayoub Khan, the independent MP for Perry Barr, where the apartments are located, has called on the Labour government to provide funding so that all 968 homes can be kept council-owned, rather than selling them off to serve private investors’ profits.
Until 4 July, the Labour council could try to hide behind the fact that the Tory government wouldn’t provide the money. This no longer applies; it’s ‘their’ government in power now.
Khan is right, and we should be demanding that the Labour government recalls the Tory-appointed commissioners and comes up with the cash to fully fund services and build more council homes to help solve Birmingham’s chronic housing crisis.
If the existing councillors won’t stand up for us, then they should be challenged by anti-cuts candidates at the 2026 council elections.
