Urgent investment required in social housing says UNISON‏

Millions of families are forced to live in poor quality homes that are not suitable for their needs and Government housing finance policy is to blame is the conclusion of a new report by the Association of Public Service Excellence (APSE), commissioned by UNISON as part of the million voices for public services campaign. http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=1644

The report condemns the slow process of council house building, which leaves millions struggling in cramped and unsuitable homes.

Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary, calls for urgent action by Government: “One of the reasons we have record waiting lists is because there are now one million fewer homes for social rent than there were in 1979. The private sector is not building homes, so there has to be a clear duty on the public sector to step in. We want to see a million affordable homes built in the lifetime of the next Parliament with local authorities having a far bigger role.”

The report states that the house-building programme is not intended as a 'quick fix' approach and recommends the removal of legal and financial barriers to council house building.
http://www.politics.co.uk/news/housing-and-planning/councils-failing-miserably-to-provide-social-housing-$1339752.htm?

UNISON housing activist John Gray blogs on today’s launch of the report in Westminster:
http://grayee.blogspot.com/2009/11/million-voices-for-million-affordable.html

For more information read: http://www.unison.org.uk/million/resources/MV_Factsheet4.pdf