Ruth Cadbury Slams Government Housing Policy
Local MP says more socially rented homes needed to fix the housing crisis
Ruth Cadbury MP has criticised the Government over its record on housebuilding, whilst urging Ministers to start building more socially rented homes to fix the housing crisis.
During a speech in the House of Commons last week the MP raised a number of issues around home building including the failure to replace homes sold under ‘right-to-buy’, the skills shortage in the housing industry and the poor conditions of many new build homes.
Speaking afterwards Ruth said, ‘‘We’re facing a housing crisis in this country, yet the Government to continue to have their head in the sand over the scale of this crisis.
"1.2 million people are waiting for social housing, over 300,000 people are homeless, and home ownership remains a distant dream for so many people. When I’m out and about talking to residents I hear countless stories of families staying in b&bs for months on ends, of young people having to sofa surf and people being forced to live in cramped and unsafe homes.
"The Governments record shows that they have simply failed to act- since 2010 the number of social housing built by the Government has halved, and in 2016 we even reached the lowest levels of building since 1945.
"If the Government want to get serious about fixing this crisis then the answer is simple; build more socially rented homes.’’
September 13, 2019