9:56am Friday 3rd September 2010
Shocking though Mr Edward Meakins’ predicament was, (‘Here to stay’, Times Series, August 26), it is not the fault of Barnet Council, which is only applying the law as it is compelled to do.
The underlying reason why he faced the loss of his family home is the housing crisis; and that crisis has arisen very largely as a result of the uncontrolled immigration of asylum claimants which has taken place over the past 15 to 20 years.
It is obvious we cannot cope with millions of newcomers in such a short space of time, all of whom are by definition homeless and most of whom have a right to accommodation from the state, without creating an acute shortage of social housing.
This, in turn, means less freedom on the part of Government, administrators and the courts to enact or interpret legislation for the benefit of people in other categories of housing need.
But for this fact, it might have been possible to relax the law on council tenancy succession rights to cater for hard cases such as Mr Meakins.
This is also the reason why so many homeless single men over 60 still have to sleep rough — a disgrace to any civilised country.
As a former housing solicitor and supervisor of a London law centre, I have some acquaintance with these issues. When we hear of the benefits of mass immigration or the wickedness of “shutting the door” on asylum claimants we should remember cases like Mr Meakins.
Martin Maloney, Hamilton Way, Finchley
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