Considering the state of the country and the high number of houses being repossessed due to the credit crunch, you would think that councils would ensure they had decent housing available for upstanding, working people. No, not in Lambeth.
Critics have accused the Lambeth Council in south London of "incompetence" in the way it handled the request from The Advisory Service for Squatters submitted in September last year, demanding a list of all its empty homes. Lib Dem opposition leader, Councillor Ashley Lumsden, said a senior council source told him it was because of "a grave error" by housing officers in publishing a list of all its properties in the appendix of a council document.
But the council said a legal precedent set by another council meant it had to hand over the details, even though officers feared it would potentially lead to a marked rise in squatting in the borough.
The council has struggled with squatters in recent years. An entire estate, Limerick Court, on the border of Streatham and Balham was squatted by more than a hundred people for six months until their eviction last summer.
Critics have accused the Lambeth Council in south London of "incompetence" in the way it handled the request from The Advisory Service for Squatters submitted in September last year, demanding a list of all its empty homes. Lib Dem opposition leader, Councillor Ashley Lumsden, said a senior council source told him it was because of "a grave error" by housing officers in publishing a list of all its properties in the appendix of a council document.
But the council said a legal precedent set by another council meant it had to hand over the details, even though officers feared it would potentially lead to a marked rise in squatting in the borough.
The council has struggled with squatters in recent years. An entire estate, Limerick Court, on the border of Streatham and Balham was squatted by more than a hundred people for six months until their eviction last summer.
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