Housing: creative solutions

Complaints to the Housing Ombudsman are on an inexorable rise , revealing a festering issue at the core of housing organisations. These repeated failures have seeped into the national consciousness, catching the attention of both the media and concerned citizens. Even politicians, typically ensnared in their own agendas, have been forced to take notice. We yearn for housing to be a central theme during this general election - a #planforhousing that couldn’t be ignored. And the public? Well, they’ve noticed too. Over the past few years, a relentless stream of reports has flooded in, painting a grim picture of subpar living conditions. In this financial year alone, the Housing Ombudsman has censured 48 social housing organisations with the allegation of severe maladministration. The Secretary of State has taken notice, penning stern letters to each offender. But this crisis didn’t emerge overnight. Yes, factors like right-to-buy policies, chronic underfunding, aging housing stock, and th...

Khan is right - Tory voter ID plans gag the poorest. But it’s not just in London. Here's what we can do about it ' On New Years’ Eve, Sadiq Kahn warned that a new wave of hard right populism could see Susan Hall in London’s City Hall. And the new requirement for voter identification at the ballot box might accelerate this trend. He’s right, but it’s not just London that is affected.  The voter identification requirements deliberately make it more difficult for those who traditionally support Labour, to vote.  After the 2019 General Election, IPSOS estimated how voters voted. Their results came as no surprise, Labour had a 43 point lead among voters aged 18-24, but the biggest change was among 35-54 year olds, who saw a three point rise in the Conservatives’ vote share and 11 point fall for Labour. There was a gender gap, with the Conservatives ahead of Labour by 15 points among men, and by nine points among women. Among BME voters, Labour led the Conservatives by 64% to 20%...

Housing policy has travelled a long way from post war Britain. The modern approach was described by Housing Minister, Aneurin Bevan. When announcing major investment in building social housing he said he wanted to see places, “ ...where the doctor, the grocer, the butcher and the farm labourer all lived in the same street. I believe that is essential for the full life of a citizen... to see the living tapestry of a mixed community.” Today, housing policy has regained its Victorian ethos; a tool used to divide. A scalpel is being applied to the ligaments that bind community. Where there is harmony, they bring discord. The gap between the haves and the have nots, the deserving and the undeserving poor, is growing wider. For individuals, that divide is increasingly difficult to breach.   Remember 2016. It is not just the year that for the first time the state permanently stopped subsidising the building of social rented housing, it is also the year that the undeserving were chased out...

Published in Inside Housing: https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/comment/this-ole-house-42273