Minister backs Council leader's promise to evict rioters from social housing

The Housing Minister Grant Shapps has promised his support to social landlords seeking to evict tenants convicted of involvement in recent rioting, following the promise by the leader of Greenwich Council that any of its tenants found to have been involved in looting and disorder would be removed from its properties.

In a statement, Chris Roberts said: “We shall seek the eviction of anyone living in council property if they are found to have been engaged in criminal acts. What happened in Woolwich is clearly part of a wider tale of disruption and criminality but this does not in any way reduce the Council's determination to act where it can.

"In recent years, the Council has secured record levels of investment into Woolwich Town Centre. Our drive to regenerate and improve our borough cannot be driven off course by such actions.”

Responding to Chris Roberts' comments, Grant Shapps wrote on his Twitter feed: “I'll back social landlords who evict tenants involved in any rioting.”

Councillor Roberts also promised that his council's newspaper, Greenwich Time, would be would be used to publish council CCTV images of people involved in his borough's disturbances, a course of action which again appeared to be backed up by central government today when the Prime Minister promised that the government would not "let any phoney concerns about human rights get in the way of the publication of these pictures [of suspects] and the apprehension of these individuals”.