LABOUR MAYOR SLAMS COUNCIL HOMES REPAIRS RECORD

At last night's meeting of Cambridge City Council's Housing Scrutiny Committee meeting, Labour councillors once again demonstrated their inability to take responsibility for the worsening state of council housing in Cambridge. But this time, the most damning criticism didn’t come from opposition parties—it came from their own Mayor.

Labour Mayor Baiju Thittala, a council tenant, delivered a passionate speech detailing his own appalling experience with the council’s responsive repairs service after a heating failure. If even Labour’s own Mayor is struggling to get basic repairs done, what hope is there for ordinary tenants?

In another telling moment, tenant representatives on the Housing Scrutiny Committee, frustrated by poor value for money in their service charges, refused to back Labour's budget and instead abstained as did the Lib Dems.

Meanwhile, the Greens opposed increasing council house rents—without offering a viable alternative to fund the desperately needed retrofitting of council homes, pushing the council further away from its net zero ambitions. The last time Labour froze rents, it drained millions from the retrofitting budget, leaving homes colder, damper, and less energy-efficient.

Liberal Democrat Housing Spokesperson Cllr Anthony Martinelli commented "It’s clear that neither Labour nor the Greens have a coherent long-term plan to improve council housing in Cambridge.

"The Liberal Democrats have been consistent in holding Labour to account on housing. Labour councillors are making the very same criticisms that we have been raising for years—without recognising that they are the ones responsible for these failures, having voted down countless budget amendments and proposals to improve the repairs service over the last decade.

"This year our focus will be on damp, condensation, and mould. We know that rates of damp are increasing in Cambridge's poorly insulated council homes, leaving tenants in situations that are not only unpleasant, but potentially risky to their health. We can see from the figures that despite identifying more and more cases, the council is managing to complete fewer and fewer works to resolve them. This also leaves the Council at risk of costly legal claims.

"The tenants of Cambridge deserve better than a council that talks in circles and refuses to learn from its own mistakes."

As this debate moves to Full Council, the Liberal Democrats will ensure that Labour’s failures are not brushed under the carpet. It’s time for real accountability—and real solutions—for Cambridge’s council tenants.