Star date: 29th January 2016

A HOTEL BEDROOM TAX COULD PROVIDE HOUSING FOR HOMELESS

"This is a brilliant idea" Street Support Salford and Manchester

Behind closed doors, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is discussing the idea of implementing a hotel bedroom tax which it states "could be used to fund particular strategic initiatives".

`Strategic initiatives' usually means prestige projects. Today the Salford Star is calling for a hotel bedroom tax to be introduced to build affordable housing for the area's homeless people.

Full details here...

One of the biggest issues in Salford and Manchester recently has been the growing numbers of people sleeping rough on the streets, squatting in unsafe or private buildings, or being evicted from homeless camps – brought to a head this month with the murder of homeless Daniel Smith under the arches in New Bailey.

In Salford, the number of official rough sleepers is 14 but the real figure is probably four times this, and most are sleeping in the shadows of prime real estate, where Salford City Council is backing a car park that cost £12million, huge new office blocks, unaffordable housing and hotels (see previous Salford Star article – click here).

Meanwhile, behind closed doors, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has, this month, been discussing the possibility of introducing a hotel bedroom tax as part of the region's devolution deal which will give added powers to raise local income to an elected mayor.

A GMCA report states that the hotel bedroom tax "could be used to fund particular strategic initiatives". Judging by the form of Salford City Council, `strategic initiatives' usually means prestige projects like fountains, bridges, riverside walkways and £19million gardens.

Today, the Salford Star is calling for the implementation of a hotel bedroom tax to fund the building of affordable housing for the area's homeless people, run by the community for the community, and involving all the various grass roots organisations that are currently on the streets supporting rough sleepers.

"I think this is a brilliant idea" says Angela `Penny' Barratt of Street Support Salford and Manchester, who has been working with homeless people for over four years.

The idea of a hotel bedroom tax, or tourist tax, is not new and has already been implemented in the world's major capital cities such as Rome, Amsterdam, Paris and New York. In London, Dame Tessa Jowell has already floated the idea, while in Edinburgh the Unite City of Edinburgh Council Branch has called on its members to campaign for such a tax...

"People from all cultures and countries visit our capital city" it states "We want to open up our city and welcome our visitors. However we do not believe that it unreasonable to ask for a small contribution from those who use the city's privately owned hotels so as we can ensure...A high quality, publicly run and publicly accountable, city infrastructure that works for residents and visitors alike."

Visitors to Manchester and Salford are currently met with more and more people living on the streets. A small hotel bedroom tax could help alleviate this problem. Tessa Jowell called for a one per cent tax, while Unite Edinburgh argued that "£2-£5 per night is hardly prohibitive"...

Such taxes around the world vary from 5.5% in Amsterdam, to 18.27% in New York City, and raise £millions to help local residents.

In Salford huge hotels have received planning permission recently – at MediaCityUK and in Central Salford, with developers avoiding £100,000s in planning fees. A tax to be paid either by the hotels or by their guests would go a long way towards putting something back into the city.

The Salford Star believes that the imposition of a hotel bedroom tax is inevitable at some point, once an elected mayor has been installed in Greater Manchester. We also believe that by the time residents get to hear about it the GMCA `strategic initiatives' will have already been set in stone for prestige projects.

The community must have an input into this process – and what better way than to campaign for any hotel bedroom tax money to be used for housing the growing number of homeless people?

Today the Salford Star urges all campaigners against homelessness, charities, residents, trade unions and political parties to begin calling for these aims...

"Paying tax is not a burden. It is the subscription we pay to live in a civilised society" Jeremy Corbyn