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4 LondraGazete.com/English Londra Gazete, 28 April 2022

YouGov Poll: Labour 27 point lead

Average asking price in London

now £677,110 over Tories ahead of May 5 vote

LONDON house prices have average asking price up by 10 LABOUR has built up a
risen across all boroughs this per cent to £365,907. 27-point lead over the Tories in
month to hit another record Five other boroughs have London ahead of the town hall
high, with the average ask- also experienced double-figure elections on May 5, a new poll re-
ing price now standing at house price growth: central veals on Wednesday (April 27).
£677,110. Westminster, and the four out- The YouGov survey for the
A year-on-year rise of 6.6 per er London hotpots of Haver- Queen Mary University of Lon-
cent, according to Rightmove’s ing, Sutton, Merton and Brom- don’s Mile End Institute put La-
latest property market data, ley. bour on 50 per cent, more than
and an increase of 1.9 per cent Of these, Havering in the twice as high as the Conserva-
from last month. east will be the most enticing tives on 23 per cent, with the
The long-awaited end of Cov- to first-time buyers; proper- Liberal Democrats on 12 per cent
id-19 restrictions, with the ty prices here have risen by and Greens nine per cent.
subsequent reopening of offic- 11.3 per cent but still stand In Inner London, Labour has a
es and cultural attractions, has at a comparatively affordable lead of 50 points, according to the
been tempting buyers back to £475,150. Sutton in the south findings.
the capital after two years of is a close second, with prices up They also suggested there may
dampened interest. 11.2 per cent to £540,305. be tactical voting in favour of La-
Borough data shows that bour from Londoners who backed
Kensington and Chelsea is en- While prices have not fallen the Liberal Democrats at the 2019
joying the biggest annual hike, year-on-year in any London General Election.
with property prices rising borough, Ealing in the west The findings came as the polit-
13.8 per cent to £1.74 million, experienced a slight drop of ical parties are rapidly ramping
meaning it is still the most ex- 0.9 per cent since last month. up their campaigning with just unchanged from 51 per cent four 13 per cent, and Greens eight per
pensive place to live in London. However, prices are up 4.1 per days to go before polling day, years ago, as are the Lib-Dems cent.
Demand for the royal bor- cent annually.
ough’s multi-million-pound Lambeth in the south has with many people already sending who were on 11 per cent. Labour still gets the backing of
back their postal votes.
The Greens have gained ground 66 per cent of voters in the capi-
homes has been fuelled by the seen the most sluggish annu- The difference is predominant- and are on nine per cent. tal from ethnic minority (BAME)
return of wealthy internation- al growth of just 0.7 per cent, ly due to backing for the Tories
al buyers to the prime Lon- with the average home current- In Outer London boroughs, La- communities, according to the
don property market in recent ly costing £661,069. Growth going down from 29 per cent to bour was on 42 per cent, the Con- poll, though this is down from 75
months. has also been slower in Brent 23 per cent, with Labour almost servatives 29 per cent, Lib-Dems per cent in 2018.
The most affordable of the (2.8 per cent), Hammersmith
city’s boroughs is Barking and and Fulham (3 per cent) and
Dagenham in the east, with its Camden (3.3 per cent). MP accuses council officials of

taking ‘kickbacks’

Stalking offences soar by COUNCIL officials were today bour-run council,” he said. has been covered up for eight

400 per cent in London accused of taking “kickbacks” as However, he then alleged that months.”
He called for a Commons de-
part of a scam, with a contractor the “real reason” was “£2 million
paid £2 million. of council tax payers’ money be- bate on “corruption in local gov-
STALKING offences have soared tree in the front garden with Christ- The allegation against Harrow ing given to contractors, contrac- ernment and transparency”,
by 400 per cent in London in just mas lights. council employees was made by tors not actually doing the work, claiming that such practices were
two years, police said. Former delivery driver Magar, 35, senior Tory MP Bob Blackman. and then council staff receiving happening in other town halls
Scotland Yard on Tuesday from Harrow, was handed a five-year
launched a new crackdown targeting restraining order by magistrates in The MP for Harrow East raised kickbacks”. around the country.
A Met Police spokesman said
offenders to coincide with a nation- February. Commander Kevin South- the claims of wrongdoing and of He added: “There is an ongoing
al awareness week. Officers received worth, the force’s new head of public an alleged “cover-up” in the Com- police investigation on this issue. that in August last year the force
more than 1,000 stalking reports protection, said: “We fully under- mons. I understand that every member was “made aware of allegations
this month, compared with 200 in stand how stalking heightens con- “Residents constantly contact of the department has now either of fraud whereby payments were
April 2020. cerns about violence against women me about the state of roads and resigned, retired or been sacked. allegedly received by employees
Eight out of 10 victims are women and girls. pavements in the London bor- The council tax payers naturally of a north London council in re-
and girls. More have come forward “Stalkers terrorise victims over ough of Harrow. I put this down say, ‘Our council is involved — turn for awarding contracts to
following a greater intolerance of and over again, leaving them strug- to the inefficiency of the La- what has been going on?’ This provide council services”. Four
stalking in society. Arrests warrants gling to feel safe. council employees were arrested
are being executed daily across the “We want to help victims of stalk- on suspicion of fraud and abusing
capital by the Met’s Predatory Of- ing to report their perpetrator, we their position the same month. A
fender Unit. want them to feel safe and relaxed fifth man who did not work for
Police are also working in partner- again without having their lives ma- the council was arrested in De-
ship with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust nipulated by one person. Everyone cember. All five have been bailed
to spot typologies of the crime, pro- has a right to feel safe in London.” pending further investigation.
vide investigative tips and learn how Commander Southworth’s team A Harrow council spokeswom-
to support victims. British tennis identifies stalkers who may be suita- an said: “Harrow council has a
star Emma Raducanu, 19, spoke ble to undertake a behaviour change zero-tolerance to any form of cor-
of her horror after stalker Amrit programme. To get advice and help, ruption and are co-operating fully
Magar walked 23 miles to her home visit suzylamplugh.org or call 0808 with the Met Police on this mat-
in Bromley, stealing her father Ian’s 802 0300. In an emergency, dial po- ter. We will not be making any
shoe as a souvenir and decorating a lice on 999. further comment at this stage.”