Greg Hands says Council must evict him as tenant

Following the guilty verdict handed out to Abu Hamza, local MP, Greg Hands has called on Hammersmith and Fulham Council to repossess his family home.

Abu Hamza was found guilty of race hate charges and soliciting to murder by an Old Bailey jury. He has been sentenced to seven years in prison as a result of his convictions

Hamza’s current home is next door to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, John Hutton, and close to DEFRA minister, Ben Bradshaw.

Greg Hands says that under new regulations the Government has granted more powers to local authorities to repossess council properties inhabited by anti-social tenants. He says the Council have little choice but to evict him as a tenant due to his anti-social behaviour.

He said: “Hamza was first housed by the council in the 1990s in a nice street property flat in Adie Road in central Hammersmith. It is believed that he made a large profit on it after he used his Right to Buy. The Council must do everything in their power to take the new property back from Mr Hamza immediately. Hammersmith and Fulham is desperately short of affordable and family-sized housing and there are many more deserving families who should now be given the chance to live there.”

The home is currently occupied by Hamza's wife and seven children. There has been no suggestion that they have behaved anti-socially and they enjoy good relations with most of their neighbours according to people who live on the street.

February 9, 2006