Guardian and Observer Editor a Property Fatcat

Oh! O murderous ironies


Will Hutton is the Left-wing commentator famed for his attacks on Britain's
landlord culture ... yet his family's housing empire is a monument to the
profit motive

By Chris Hastings, Fiona Govan and David Marley
Sunday Telegraph
(Filed: 18/04/2004)

As country homes go, the 13th-century manor house buried deep in the heart
of Oxfordshire takes some beating. Reputed once to have been the home of the
Black Prince, the Grade II-listed building comes complete with a private
orchard, swimming pool and tennis courts.
Located minutes from the centre of Woodstock, a quintessential English
village, but cut off by a private road, stone wall and electronic gates, the
property offers the ideal mix of convenience and privacy.

The State We're In sold over 200,000 in the UK
With the exception of Blenheim Palace, which dominates the landscape, Manor
Farm is one of the area's most desirable homes.
The owner of some of it has, however, none of the aristocratic lineage of
his famous neighbour, the Duke of Marlborough. Hitherto Will Hutton, 53, the
former editor (and current columnist) of The Observer and author of
best-selling books such as The State We're In (it sold more than 200,000
copies in the UK alone), has been best known for his rants against modern
Britain.
Mr Hutton is one of the most outspoken critics of what he regards as the
iniquities of modern British capitalism and the legacy of Thatcherism. He
contends that the social fabric has been damaged by free market ideology and
rampant individualism, and argues that Britain must embrace the ethos of
solidarity and social cohesion which he claims is prevalent on the
Continent.
His fame as a "guru" has its roots in New Labour's brief infatuation with
his ideas in the mid-1990s, although Tony Blair and allies have since
disavowed his theories.
He is now one of the BBC's favourite commentators on economic and social
issues, and chief executive of The Work Foundation, a Left-leaning
think-tank.
Mr Hutton has been particularly scornful of what he believes is an unhealthy
and socially divisive obsession with owner occupation. Property developers,
people who buy to let, and middle-class families in gated communities have
all felt the brunt of his indignant socialism.
In an Observer article in 2002, he criticised "prohibitively high" rents in
the private sector and attacked the emergence of a new class of mainly
middle-class people who were buying to let.
In February last year, he wrote: "There is too little affordable housing."
Last month, on BBC television, he said: "I can take you on a drive in
central London on which every street we took in had no house on it which
cost less than £1 million . . . That is another way in which our middle
class are actively causing more inequality."
In the light of such pronouncements, many will be surprised to learn that in
addition to his Oxfordshire property, Mr Hutton owns a second home, a
four-bedroom semi in Muswell Hill in north London. Estate agents offer
similar properties for up to £1 million.
His Oxfordshire retreat, inherited from an aunt in the mid-1990s, is centred
around a former barn that has been converted into a six-bedroom house.
Neighbours estimate that the addition of a swimming pool and tennis courts
has increased its value to at least £1 million.
Residents said last week that the Huttons had sold off parts of their
inheritance over the years and had also rented out holiday cottages. "I know
they used to do that quite often," said one. "I am not sure if that is still
going on."
An investigation by The Telegraph has discovered that these holdings are
only part of a Hutton family property portfolio that includes dozens of
other residential and commercial units in London.
Mr Hutton's wife Jane - who uses her maiden name of Atkinson in her business
dealings - runs First Premise Limited, a development company that has
specialised in letting and selling of properties, many in inner-city areas
of London.
Much of the criticism Mr Hutton makes against other property developers
could also be levelled against his wife's firm, in which she is a 25 per
cent shareholder. First Premise has repossessed properties from commercial
tenants and lobbied council officials into relaxing building standards on
accommodation, and charges rents substantially higher than in the affordable
social-market of which her husband so approves.
His attacks on "prohibitive rents" seem to have been ignored by First
Premise.
The company is at present seeking a tenant for a one-bedroom property on
Deptford High Street - one of the poorest parts of south-east London. The
asking price of £950 a month, plus a month's deposit, means it is off-limits
to anyone who could be vaguely described as "local".
Many of the vacancies in the Jobcentre directly opposite the flat cannot
match, let alone sustain, the annual rent of £11,400 being sought by First
Premise. The jobs include £6,500 for a warehouse packer, £11,000 for a bar
worker and £12,000 for a postroom assistant.
An official from the local council, Lewisham, said that a one-bedroom
property on Deptford High Street would let for up to £550 a month. He told a
reporter posing as a potential tenant that Deptford was a rundown area and
that rent of £950 was "beyond the pale".
He added: "I know of a four-bedroom house in Eltham for that. It's a
ridiculous price. You wouldn't even pay that for a one-bedroom on
Blackheath."
It is difficult to understand why First Premise, which has been in business
since 1986, thinks it can charge almost double the local average. The flat,
which overlooks some vandalised garages, has a security gate that hardly
works and a dingy, badly-lit stairwell. It is next to a group of housing
association flats, a number of which have been the subject of police drugs
raids.
The newly-painted open-plan flat has no furniture apart from a fridge and a
cooker - part of which fell off while we were being shown around. The
bedroom and dining room are reached through archways rather than doors.
Ms Atkinson yesterday defended the rent. "The terms of our financing means
we have to charge market rents. You should look at the flat - it's huge."
She said that it was a live/work unit not a one-bedroom flat.
Despite the price, the company has found other tenants for the property.
Three years ago it was home to two people sharing, who built a makeshift
wooden stairway to turn a tiny upstairs storage area into a second bedroom.
One of the former tenants said last week that while he did not have a
problem with First Premise as a landlord, the flat was far from perfect.
There were problems with damp that caused mould on walls, inadequate heating
and a badly-ventilated bathroom.
First Premise has a relaxed attitude to living and working arrangements.
Jim, an employee who showed a reporter around the flat, explained: "We
advertise it as a one-bedroom but it can be used as a two-bedroom because
the former tenants built stairs to a storeroom that they converted into a
bedroom.
"The stairs are a bit narrow and probably don't conform to health and
safety, which is why we say it is just a one-bedroom, but we wouldn't have
any complaints if you stuck a bed in there."
Whatever its accepted function the company has a relaxed attitude about what
the flat is used for. "It wouldn't be a problem running a workshop or
something like that from the flat," Jim said.
"First Premise don't mind what you do with it as long as you pay the rent.
The last tenants used it as a work space. We don't advertise it as such
because you need planning permission to classify the property as live/work
space but I assure you that you won't get any problems from the owners."
All that Jim knew about his employer, Ms Atkinson, 51, was that she was
"posh" and married to "someone big in newspapers". She was the driving force
behind First Premise, he said. "Jane runs the business, no doubt about it.
We don't see her that often. If and when we have to send for the bailiffs,
that is normally when Jane comes in."
First Premise owns and manages 50 shops, flats and live/work units on
Deptford High Street. The live/work units, which come with the barest of
essentials such as a galley kitchen and separate shower and bathroom, are
let for £800 a month.
Ms Atkinson last night defended the company's work in inner cities saying
she was regenerating areas other developers would not touch.
The company has also made considerable profits from the redevelopment and
sale of rundown inner-city areas. According to Jim, the company allegedly
made a profit of several million pounds two years ago on the sale of a
stretch of the Old Kent Road to a local housing association.
It purchased the block of properties between 354 and 382 Old Kent Road from
Southwark council. The buildings were bought at a discount partly with
government grants.
Southwark had hoped the properties would largely be used for new businesses
to bring much-needed regeneration to the area. Ms Atkinson, however,
successfully campaigned to convert a substantial part of the buildings into
far more lucrative residential properties.
In letters to the council, she claimed that the depressed state of the
retail market meant that the entire development would collapse unless her
new plans were given the green light. No sooner was the council won around
to that idea, however, than there was further disagreement.
Southwark wanted maisonettes and family accommodation; Ms Atkinson and First
Premise wanted more profitable one-bedroom flats. Moreover, the design and
construction caused concern. Council documents reveal that environmental
health officers were upset about "inadequate size bathrooms and insufficient
space for food preparation".
Some of the flats fell short of the council's guidelines on living space -
often by as much as 10 square yards. Officers rejected one of the
conversions after ruling that it "fell far short of acceptable standards for
new accommodation".
In the face of Ms Atkinson's repeated warnings, however, the council
reluctantly agreed to a "relaxation of standards". Officials accepted that
the company had done its best to maximise available living space. Ms
Atkinson defended the size of the flats. "The size of each floor is very
small, you can only get a certain amount in. We were constrained by the
existing structure."
The disclosure that she successfully lobbied for a move away from retail
premises seems at odds with her role as a campaigner for inner-city business
regeneration. In 1999 she was appointed to a government policy committee
charged with bringing back high-quality shopping to inner cities.
London and Quadrant, a housing association that bought 24 of the Old Kent
Road one-bedroom flats and live/work units from First Premise for an
undisclosed sum in 1999, last night insisted that the properties met all
planning and building regulations. A spokesman said that the "unique" nature
of the properties meant they were not available to those on the council
waiting list.
One official, who asked not to be named, said: "They are small. The
photographer we sent round to help market them had a devil of a job trying
to make them look bigger."
Ms Atkinson has not always met with success when dealing with local
authorities. In 1998, First Premise was dropped as Richmond council's
preferred developer for a riverside complex in Twickenham. Councillors ruled
that revised plans produced by the company and its partner were "too
commercial" and at odds with the wishes of local people. First Premise's
threat to sue for compensation has been quietly abandoned. Ms Atkinson said
yesterday that her firm had been "a junior partner".
Such setbacks have done nothing to dent the viability of the business. The
most recent set of accounts show that First Premise had accumulated profits
of £938,977 in the year ending 2002. Ms Atkinson owns 25 per cent of the
company.
Mr Hutton declined to comment. The revelations caused hilarity yesterday at
The Observer, where his tenure as editor between 1996 and 1998 saw a marked
decline in sales. "The hypocrisy we're in, huh?" one senior journalist said.
As for Mr Hutton, he remains busy with his work on behalf of the poor and
dispossessed.
Last month he appeared in a BBC drama-documentary about poverty. The villain
was a fictitious property developer, who lived in a rural retreat with a
swimming pool.


The estate he's in - leading critic of housing profiteers is beneficiary of
property empire
By Chris Hastings, Media Correspondent
(Filed: 18/04/2004)

Will Hutton, Britain's foremost critic of capitalism and an outspoken
advocate for affordable social housing, is married to a property developer
who has made a fortune out of selling and renting inner-city properties,
often at rates which local council housing officers describe as exorbitant.

The State We're In sold more than 200,000 copies
Mr Hutton's wife heads a company called First Premise, which owns and
manages dozens of commercial and residential properties in London.
The company specialises in renovating rundown properties - often with the
help of public grants - and then makes a profit by selling or renting them
out.
The disclosure that Mr Hutton's own family is among those capitalising on
Britain's property boom will be an acute embarrassment for him.
The Left-wing commentator, who appears regularly on BBC television and
writes in The Observer newspaper - which he used to edit - has often railed
against the iniquities of the property market.
He has been particularly scornful of what he believes is Britain's socially
divisive obsession with owner occupation. Property developers, people who
buy to let and middle-class families who live in gated communities have all
come in for criticism.
In an article for The Observer in 2002, he criticised "prohibitively high"
rents in the private sector and attacked people who buy to let.
In another column, in February 2003, he complained of the lack of affordable
housing.
Mr Hutton's attacks on "prohibitive rents" appear to have been ignored by
his wife's firm. First Premise is currently trying to let a one-bedroom
property on Deptford High Street - one of the poorest parts of south-east
London - for £950 a month.
Officials from the local council, Lewisham, said one-bedroom flats in the
area were normally £500 to £550 a month. One described First Premise's £950
demand as "beyond the pale". First Premise made profits of £938,977 in the
year ending 2002, the last year for which accounts are available.
The revelations led to Mr Hutton, the the author of the best-selling book
The State We're In, being branded a hypocrite. Ann Widdecombe, the Tory MP,
said last night: "I have nothing against property developers. However, the
word hypocrite might be useful here. Mr Hutton has displayed a typical
socialist attitude - 'do as I say, not as I do'."
Mrs Hutton, who uses her maiden name of Atkinson for her business, said
First Premise had a proud track record of regenerating areas that other
developers had been unwilling to take on.

"ROBBIE" <johnny_argument.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<c5u1sl$5qklh$1@ID-200782.news.uni-berlin.de>...
 > Oh! O murderous ironies
 >
 >
This kind of reminds me of when Al Gore rented a small house on his
big ole farm in Carthage Tn. The family (poor decent folk) complained
for months that it was falling apart and that the toilet wouldn't work
and spilled sewage all over the place... rather do what I say, not
what I do, dontcha think?<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->