In response to today’s publication of Shelter’s report, ‘A Vision for Social Housing’, Labour’s London Assembly Housing Spokesperson, Tom Copley AM, said:
“For this Government, social housing has sadly been an afterthought. In London, we’ve seen the impact of this with fewer than 8,000 social homes having been built over the last five years in total.
“With more and more people being forced into the all too often precarious conditions of the private rented sector, it is clear that we need to see a historic renewal in social housing to provide safe, secure and affordable homes to Londoners.
“In our capital, we are witnessing the burning injustice of thousands sleeping rough on the streets and trapped in temporary accommodation, alongside a rise in the hidden homeless population.
“Shelter’s plan for social housing sets a benchmark for the level of ambition that we need to turn this dire situation around. The Government must now pull its weight, and work with the Mayor by putting the funding in place to secure the 30,000 new social homes that London needs each year.
“But it’s no good building new social housing only to lose precious existing council homes to Right to Buy. The Government must end this policy, which has resulted in the loss of 287,303 social rented homes in London in the past 40 years.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
-The 2017 London Strategic Housing Market Assessment, carried out by the Greater London Authority, identifies the need for 30,972 social rented homes to be built each year in London;
-Data from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government shows that between 2013/14 and 2017/18, 7,905 new homes for social rent were built in London;
- Data from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government reveals that the Right to Buy policy has resulted in the loss of 287,303 social rented homes in London in the past 40 years;
-Tom Copley AM is a Londonwide Assembly Member.