BARNET LABOUR GROUP have proposed radical changes which they say could end the borough’s housing crisis.

Home Truths for Barnet, a report carried out by the borough’s opposition party, recommends alternative to Barnet Council’s current housing policies.

They say the authority has not built enough affordable homes and this will only get worse unless something is done.

The report, which took them a year to compile, shows the number of families made homeless after being evicted by private landlord has doubled in three years - from 700 in 2012 to 1,700 in 2015.

Among suggestions, they want to see social housing rents set at 30 to 50 per rent of market rates, or £93 to £155 per week – compared to the council’s current guidelines of £200 a week.

They also claim high rents in private and social housing have led to higher housing benefit claims, which ended up costing the council £263.8m in 2014/15 – an increase of 74 per cent since 2007/8.

Labour’s housing spokesperson, Cllr Ross Houston, said the Conservative group’s own housing strategy, published in the summer, did not include social rents.

He added: “Barnet Council are not catering for people in low incomes. They say you can rely on benefits, but you can’t always do that.

“The whole philosophy is that we want people to be independent but saying people have to go into welfare to pay their rent is not a sustainable plan.”

The group also said half of all new homes built in Barnet should be affordable, with three in ten new homes built for social rent, and two in ten built for ‘rent to buy’ or shared ownership.

They say the target that 40 per cent of new homes should be affordable has been missed with only 1,123 “affordable” homes built from 2011 to 2014, which was 30 per cent of all new homes.

But Barnet Council estimates only 31 per cent of the 28,730 new homes built will be affordable – 8,690, and 19.7 per cent of the 2,080 homes with planning consent will be affordable.

But under Labour’s recommendation, this would be increased to 50 per cent of 14,365 – an increase of 5,675 affordable homes.

Cllr Houston added: “We aren’t building enough affordable homes. In an outter-London borough like Barnet, the house prices are beyond most people.

“You have to accept there is a group in the middle for whom home ownership is beyond reach.

“This is not good enough.”

The group wants private sector landlords to be licensed by the council and good landlords who meet legal requirements to be awarded appropriately.

They say 37,000 households – 26 per cent – are renters but this could increase to 35 per cent by 2025.

Cllr Houston also says “lessons should be learned” from the West Hendon Estate saga, where residents who had lived there for a number of years were evicted ahead of a regeneration project.

The scheme will see people moved out of the borough but will not be able to afford the new flats when they are completed.

Leaseholders were originally offered less than half the value of their demolished properties and the offer was only upgraded after public protests.

The Labour group say Barnet Council reacted “disastrously” to this and will end up losing 827 social homes for rent, with longstanding residents not qualifying for new tenancies.

On the Grahame Park Estate in Colindale, 352 social rented homes will be lost – down from 1,428 to 1,076 in the regeneration scheme.

The report, which was set up by Barnet’s Labour councillor and held seven public hearings and taken evidence from over 40 expert witnesses, also called for the borough’s housing needs to be reviewed.

Other suggestions included Barnet Council establishing a not-for-profit lettings agency and capital housing subsidy for social rented homes to be restored.

Cllr Houston added: “Barnet Council needs a massive change of direction if it is going to give local families any hope of a decent, affordable home.

“The council’s failure to plan for affordable housing or crack down on rogue landlords is making overcrowding, homelessness and poverty worse year after year.

“Our report shows there is a better way and that the council could meet the need for secure, affordable homes if it had the will to do so.”

Cllr Tom Davey, chairman of the housing committee, said: “If Labour wish to produce political documents outside of the council governance system that is entirely their right. It is a shame they failed to constructively engage in the development of the Barnet Housing Strategy over the last 18 months."