| |
Let’s get building
• THE debate on affordable housing has broken out again (To 13,000 on the waiting list affordable housing is priority, February 1). Affordable housing may have a role to play but it is not a coherent housing policy.
New Labour’s solution to the housing crisis faced by those who cannot afford to buy or pay market rents is to build fewer council houses than Margaret Thatcher. Now it wants to ration council housing to disqualify those on benefits.
In the meantime, it has been shovelling money into the hands of private finance initiative (PFI) companies, contractors and consultants. The National Audit Office reveals that hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money are being wasted by officials who overpay private firms to do tasks like installing a new electric socket or replacing a lock.
New Labour has squandered the money from Right to Buy, probably on Trident missiles, and the housing revenue account is in surplus, meaning that council rent is now a tax. On top of that there is somewhere in the region of £6billion a year from stamp duty on house sales.
If some of this money went on building council housing we could begin to ease the problem of our housing shortage.
It’s time for traditional Labour supporters to reclaim the party. Let’s start by ditching this empty mantra about affordable housing and get back to building council homes.
Richard Rosser
Highbury estate, N5
|
 |
|
| |
| Your Comments : |
| |
| |
| |
