No, Mr McDonnell. Our homes aren’t horrendous
Neighbours blast back at Shadow Chancellor
RESIDENTS on Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell’ s street have hit back at his claim that homes there are ‘badly maintained’ and ‘overcrowded’.
The far-Left MP spoke out last week as he launched his hugely controversial policy which would give tenants the ‘right to buy’ their rented homes at a cut price under a Labour Government.
Talking about the road on which he lives in Hayes, West London, Mr McDonnell said: ‘In my street now... a third of the houses are right- to- buy, badly maintained, overcrowded; it’s horrendous.’
But last week The Mail on Sunday spoke to more than 20 second-home owners and tenants on Mr McDonnell’s cul- de- sac and adjoining street, and t he overwhelming majority disagreed with him.
Tenant Camden Jacob, 21, who lives next door to Mr McDonnell, moved into the three- bedroom home just a couple of months ago.
The bank worker said his landlord had refurbished the end-of-terrace property ahead of him moving in with his partner and his brother.
‘The owner is always coming to check everything, he is a really nice person,’ he said.
Among the landlords, several live on the road while others we spoke to once lived in the houses themselves. Pushpa Shah, a 72-year-old retired council worker, looks after two properties on the street after her landlord son died last year.
She said: ‘The houses have always been kept in the best condition – we make sure everything is right.
‘We have never had any issues so Mr McDonnell cannot be talking about our homes.’
Landlord Vinod Vadher, 65, owns a second home on the street which he lived in from 1976 to 1999. It is now rented by Nahid Doust, 40, who said she was ‘very happy’ in the h property with ih her family, including four children. Mr Vadher, a retired petrochemicals worker, said: ‘That street is very well maintained and so are the houses – my tenants have never complained. They speak to the letting agent and when they want something fixing, I get it sorted out.’
Referring to Mr McDonnell’s policy, he said: ‘I lived in that house for 23 years and I moved away for my family. Why should I have to sell my house that I worked hard for?’
One rented semi-detached home on the street had rubbish in the front garden but the MoS was unable to speak to anyone at the property.
Another landlord, who lives on the street but did not wish to be named, said: ‘I can see where John’s coming from. There are a lot more privately rented homes now – probably around 30 to 40 per cent. Some of them are not in the best condition.’
A spokesman for Mr McDonnell said: ‘John has dealt with many serious cases of landlord abuse, which have only increased as more people are forced into renting privately by the cost of housing and lack of social homes.’