Chuka Umunna MP

A significant local home-building project which had been thrown into doubt by the Liberal Democrat – Conservative coalition government has been given the go ahead after pressure from local MP Chuka Umunna.

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has written to housing association Clapham Park Homes to confirm that funding has now been approved for 120 new homes which had been agreed under the previous government.

Last month, the coalition published a list of housing projects under the Kickstart scheme which would face a review and possible cancellation.

Clapham Park was shortlisted to receive over £9 million of funding for new homes under the previous Labour administration, with its project having passed through due diligence processes.

After the new government’s announcement that the projects would be put on hold, Mr Umunna asked a series of parliamentary questions demanding answers from ministers on funding for the scheme and wrote to Housing Minister Grant Shapps to make representations.

Commenting, Mr Umunna said: “I am pleased that this essential home building project on the Clapham Park Estate will now go ahead and after the pressure exerted on the Conservative – Liberal Democrat government, it has decided to go ahead with the previous government’s commitments in this area.”

“I will continue to push the government on funding for housing in our local area, particularly money allocated under the last government to bring social housing up to an acceptable standard.”

Questions still remain on whether local arms-length management organisations Lambeth Living and United Residents Housing will be able to access Decent Homes funding, which the government is reviewing as part of its comprehensive spending review. Mr Umunna has also tabled parliamentary questions in this regard.

Chuka Umunna, Member of Parliament for Streatham, has co-launched a campaign to stop loan sharks this week as a signatory to the End Legal Loan Sharking coalition.

In the Streatham constituency there exist high street lenders charging rates as high as 400% APR despite the Bank of England base rate having remained at just 0.5% since March 2009.

Mr Umunna was signatory to a letter published in The Guardian this week alongside academics, campaigners and other MPs calling on the government to introduce interest rate caps and increase access to affordable consumer credit.

The campaign cites strong evidence that interest rates which companies charge on short-term loans are not subject to competitive pressures because of a lack of alternative sources of credit and borrowers’ urgent need for ready cash.

Local organisations such as the London Mutual Credit Union which serves Lambeth and Southwark and of which Mr Umunna is a member, provide an alternative to loan sharks by lending small amounts of money while encouraging people to save.

Although the government has said it will regulate excessive interest rates on credit and store cards, it is not taking steps to regulate interest rates charged by lenders which most major European countries already do including France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Holland, and Italy.

Mr Umunna, who is a member of the Treasury Select Committee, is also joining the call for all retail banks to be legally obliged to provide people with a bank account and other financial services.

Mr Umunna said:

“Irresponsible lenders prey on vulnerable people in difficult financial situations, trapping them in cycles of debt through extortionate interest rates, and this is why we are calling on the government to cap the interest rates which consumers are charged on short-term loans.

“It is a scandal that there are predatory lenders on our doorstep here in Streatham charging such exorbitant rates of interest.

“London Mutual Credit Union is a great example of the kind of initiatives which the government should be supporting – increasing access to credit and helping people put savings aside.”

Chuka has been busy attending street parties and fun days in recent weeks in the Summer sunshine. These have included Streatham Festival, Abbeville Fair, Streatham Septagon Fair, Clapham Park Festival, Windmill Gardens Summer Festival , Friends of Unigate Wood Summer Fair, Weir Link Fun Day and the Sophie Centre Summer Fair.

He has also been to school fetes at Fenstanton, Bonneville, Orchard, Christ Church, St Julian’s and Sunnyhill schools.

Below is a small selection of photos from some of these fantastic events: