A local investment project which was thrown into doubt by the Liberal Democrat-Conservative government has been given the all clear.

The project, set to deliver 120 new homes on the Clapham Park estate was put on ice last month, being included in a list of housing projects agreed under the previous government subject to review and possible cancellation.

Clapham Park was shortlisted to benefit from £9 million of funding for new homes under Labour as part of the Kickstart scheme and was visited by the then Housing Minister John Healey in January.

Following the new government’s announcement, Chuka wrote to Housing Minister Grant Shapps and tabled a series of Parliamentary Questions demanding answers from ministers on the funding.

Thankfully, this week the Homes and Communities Agency has announced that the project will now go ahead as originally planned.

Last month, Chuka invited Lambeth Living, representatives from the Council and Tulse Hill Tenants and Residents Association to accompany him on a walkabout of Tulse Hill Estate to meet local residents and listen to their concerns.

One of the problems reported during the visit was the number of potholes around the estate. Following the visit, Lambeth Living assured residents that the worst of the potholes will be filled in within the next two to three weeks and the Council suggested that Lambeth Living should meet with the Council officers responsible for filling in potholes in the borough to see if their knowledge and experience can be of assistance – a small example of why walkabouts like this, with representatives from all the relevant agencies, are so important.

Local residents also raised the lack of activities for young people, and Chuka visited the Jubilee Hall facility which has lain dormant because of a lack of funding – following this Chuka is meeting with its steering group which is working to get the building up and running again.

Chuka will be doing regular walkabouts throughout the constituency to meet as many constituents as possible, hear their concerns and take action.

In this video, Chuka discusses the government’s New Deal for Communities programme and the difference it is making to the Clapham Park Estate.

Having been designated as one of the government’s New Deal for Communities (NDC) zones, Clapham Park has benefitted from £56 million of regeneration funding. The programme is focussed on neighbourhoods suffering from multiple social deprivation, taking a holistic approach by improving housing, tackling crime and anti-social behaviour, improving transport links and opportunities in education and training.

The project is controlled by local residents, empowering the community to make choices on how to make the area a better place to live.

Residents have been provided with entry phones to reduce anti-social behaviour, the area has benefitted from a new bus route to Brixton and Balham and new and improved housing is currently being built.

Mentoring and skills training is also being provided to help people into work. Neighbourhood wardens have been introduced to improve safety and security for local residents.

In December 2009, it was announced that Clapham Park had been shortlisted for £9.5 million of additional funding through the government’s Kickstart Programme to support the building of new homes.

Commenting, Chuka said:

“I share residents impatience for the rebuild and renovation of homes in the area. But, unlike opposition parities, we have not sat back and moaned but worked hard to get more government investment into the area so these essential works can continue.

“Clapham Park Homes has got £27 million in extra money into the estate – to make sure that they can continue to fund their programme of refurbishment and rebuild. Locally Labour worked hard to convince the Housing Minister that CPH could turn this money into new homes without delay.

“We will share residents’ delight when, in a few weeks’ time they are able to move into the new building on Clarence Crescent and the refurbished Picton and Rigg Houses in Clapham Park West.

“I am clear that Clapham Park Homes still has more to do to improve the service to tenants and leaseholders. That is why myself and local Labour councillors meet regularly with the CPH Chief Executive, to voice our concern over some of the service standards and to raise individual problems that people have brought to us.

“It is also why we continue to support the many community initiatives that have developed since 2001 such as the Over 50’s club and the youth work done by Clapham Park Project (CPP).”

The measures to cut the level of stamp duty announced in the Budget will greatly benefit first time buyers in the Streatham constituency.

The Chancellor announced that people purchasing properties worth up to £250,000 will benefit from a two-year Stamp Duty holiday; this will be paid for by increasing the Stamp Duty on properties worth over £1million.

In Streatham there are far more properties on sale for less than £250,000 than over £1million, a search on the property aggregator website, Prime Location shows that there are 689 properties under £250,000 and only 18 over £1million.

The move will help first-time buyers make their first step on the property market, Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Streatham, said:

“Exemption from stamp duty for properties under £250,000 will mean that more first-time buyers can get their feet on the property ladder.

“It is clear that first time buyers in Streatham and areas like it stand to benefit most from raising the stamp duty threshold.

“This will provide a boost for the local housing market and help secure the economic recovery in our local area.”

The current level of house prices in Streatham will mean that the cut in stamp duty announced by Chancellor Alistair Darling in last week’s Budget will particularly benefit first-time buyers in the local area, new research shows.

Last week, the Chancellor announced that purchasers of properties worth up to £250,000 will benefit from a two-year Stamp Duty Holiday, doubling the threshold at which they pay the levy from £125,000.

The move will help first-time buyers make their first step on the property market. To pay for this change, Stamp Duty for properties worth over £1 million will be increased to 5 per cent.

In Streatham, there are far more properties on sale for less than £250,000 than over £1 million, meaning that first-time buyers in our area will particularly benefit from the change, and will save up to £2,500 when buying a home.

On the property website Find a Property, which aggregates homes on sale from different estate agents in a given area, out of a total of 803 properties available in the SW16 and SW2 postcodes, 370 are priced under £250,000 and just 18 over £1 million.

Of the 1,526 properties advertised on another property aggregator website, Prime Location, 689 are for under £250,000 and only 23 are on the market for more than £1 million.

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary candidate for Streatham, said:

“Exemption from stamp duty for properties under £250,000 will mean that more first-time buyers can get their feet on the property ladder.

“It is clear that first time buyers in Streatham and areas like it stand to benefit most from raising the stamp duty threshold.

“This will provide a boost for the local housing market and help secure the economic recovery in our local area.”

Minister for Housing and Planning John Healey visited our area on 14 January to see the Clapham Park Estate, one of the government’s New Deal for Communities (NDC) zones.

Mr Healey met local residents and community leaders from Clapham Park Homes, a community led housing association that now runs the estate.

Clapham Park Homes was founded by the Clapham Park Project, an initiative that has received £70 million investment from the Labour Government since 2001.

Recently the Clapham Park Estate was earmarked for £9.5 million of Government funding to provide good quality housing as part of the Kickstart house building programme.

In addition the money has been provided on the condition that Clapham Park Homes provide schemes for local labour and apprenticeships, ensuring continued investment and opportunities in the area.

The redevelopment of the estate will consist of the refurbishment of existing blocks alongside the construction of new housing. As well as Government funding, the project will be funded by the sale of new homes.

Good quality, well managed and maintained homes are in the process of being built in an area revitalised with a network of new parks, open spaces, better transport and good schools.

Commenting on his visit, during which he inspected the new housing, Mr Healey said:

“I am delighted Chuka asked me to come and visit Clapham Park so I could see how the money we have ploughed into the area is being spent and so I could talk to local residents about what more we could do.

“The residents Chuka and I spoke to told us that they were pleased to see the Government investment in the area, building homes and supporting jobs – that is what we have been doing since 1997 on the Clapham Park Estate and we will continue to do so.”

Chuka highlighted the improvements to the local area, saying:

“The Clapham Park Estate has improved massively from when I was growing up in the constituency and I will work tirelessly to ensure the investment and improvements continue.”

You can visit the Clapham Park Homes website and find out more about the project here: www.cph-online.co.uk

Housing Minister John Healey, who visited Streatham earlier this month, is today extending to Lambeth the government’s campaign to help homeowners avoid repossession.

Lambeth is one of 56 repossession hotspots where the government is running new mortgage help events to promote the assistance which is available to struggling homeowners.

The help events are being run in association with the Citizens Advice Bureau, and offer impartial face-to-face help and advice to homeowners on how to keep their home.

A dedicated helpline and website have also been set up to offer free impartial advice to people who are worried they could face repossession. This is available at www.direct.gov.uk/mortgagehelp.

Over the past year, more than 330,000 households have received help with their mortgages to avoid repossession, and the number of repossessions is currently half of what it was during the last recession.

Chuka Umunna said: “The government is taking action to help homeowners under pressure in our area.

“Families should not have to experience the trauma of repossession, and the government is offering advice and financial assistance for those struggling to meet their mortgage payments.

“During the last recession in the early 1990s, thousands of families were forced to leave their homes and received little help, but the government is determined that this will not happen again.”

Many older people and younger people with disabilities want to maintain their ability to live at home as long as possible, so Labour is proposing to extend free personal care at home to 280,000 people with the highest needs.

The Personal Care at Home Bill will invest £670 million to enable them to stay in their homes, adjusting living conditions with new technology and adaptations whilst also protecting the free care already provided.

Under the proposals 130,000 people will be able to gain new skills that help them to maintain their independence. Additionally, 111,000 people who in the past have had to fund their own home care will receive it for free.

In the long run this will save both social care services and the NHS money, and will form the first step towards a new National Care Service.

Chuka Umunna said : “Labour’s Personal Care at Home Bill will make personal care simple, fair and accessible, giving hundreds of thousands of people new dignity and independence.”

“Many elderly people and younger disabled people need help with everyday tasks such as getting in and out of bed, washing and dressing. Too many still have to fund the support they need out of
their own pocket – or do without.”

“And what’s more, many have to give up living at home in order to receive that support. This bill will help put an end to this.”

The Conservatives, who oppose a National Care Service, instead want a private insurance scheme which will require people to pay £8,000 for residential care, without support to stay in their own home. Not only does this underestimate the cost of such care, but it would also exclude those unable to pay and create a perverse incentive for people to leave their homes even where this is unnecessary or inappropriate.

The Conservative policy, which also does nothing for younger disabled people, has been criticised by social care experts.

Chuka continued: “In 1945 it was Labour that created a National Health Service, free at the point of use, improving life in the UK beyond measure. And now we are setting out to create a new National Care Service in the same spirit of dignity and wellbeing for all.”

The Labour Government has launched the new Boiler Scrappage Scheme – a national initiative to help families save money on fuel bills and cut their carbon emissions.

Around 125,000 households in England will be entitled to £400 towards the price of a new A-rated boiler or renewable heating system to replace their older, less environmentally-friendly boilers.

Hundreds of Streatham families with outdated boiler systems are expected to be eligible for the welcome boost, especially in the freezing weather.

The move is also designed to help sustain work in the heating industry, a major British employer.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the Scheme “will slash household energy bills and carbon emissions while providing an important boost for the British heating industry.

“The government’s new scrappage scheme will help to secure 250,000 jobs across the tens of thousands of small and medium businesses involved in boiler manufacture, sales and installation that form a vital component of Britain’s low carbon economy.”

Labour’s Climate Change Secretary, Ed Miliband, said: “The Boiler Scrappage Scheme will save around £200 off heating bills per year for families that are replacing their old boilers, and in total will save the same amount of carbon equivalent to taking around 45,000 cars off the road.

“The scheme will add to the existing package of government measures to help householders be smarter about the energy they use, leading to permanently reduced fuel bills and cutting emissions.”

The Boiler Scrappage Scheme is based on the same principles as the hugely successful Car Scrappage Scheme – a burst of decisive government investment designed to help both people and businesses while reducing the UK’s carbon footprint.

The Car Scrappage Scheme, introduced in May last year and extended in September, gives drivers £2,000 towards a new car if they trade in an old one.

As of December 2009, 282,898 new cars had been ordered under the Scheme, 19,150 of which were in London.

Housing Minister John Healey MP pays a visit to the Clapham Park Estate at the invitation of Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for the area, to meet with local residents.

Following the election of the Labour Government in 1997, Clapham Park Estate was selected as a pilot site for the New Deal for Communities initiative. Consequently since 2001 the Labour government has invested £70million into the area through the Clapham Park Project, which has run various schemes and initiatives, and Clapham Park Homes (CPH).

CPH is the community led housing association set up to provide Estate residents with good quality, well managed and maintained homes at affordable rents, in an area revitalised with a network of new parks and open spaces, cleaner and safer streets, better transport, good schools, a wide range of community facilities, decent services and more local jobs.

The government has just announced that CPH has been shortlisted to receive a further £9.5million to help develop the Estate given the difficulties faced by CPH in securing financing during the Credit Crunch.

John Healey MP, the Minister for Housing and Planning, was invited to visit the Clapham Park Estate to see the government investment to date and meet with local residents and staff from Clapham Park Homes, at the invitation of Chuka Umunna, Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for the area.

Commenting on his visit on 14 January 2010, Mr Healey said:

“I am delighted Chuka asked me to come and visit Clapham Park so I could see how the money we have ploughed into the area is being spent and so I could talk to local residents about what more we can do.

“The residents Chuka and I spoke to told us that they were pleased to see the government investing in the area, building homes and supporting jobs – that is what we have been doing since 1997 on the Clapham Park Estate and we will continue to do so.”

Mr Umunna said:

“Ensuring that residents get to speak to government ministers, tell decision makers of their experiences and what more they would like to see is an absolute priority for me.

“The Clapham Park Estate has improved massively from when I was growing up in the constituency and I will work tirelessly to ensure the investment and improvements continue.”

During his visit Mr Healey went on a walk about on the Estate with Mr Umunna, Keith Hill MP, local ward councillors, the Chair and Chief Executive of Clapham Park Homes and local residents.