We have a housing crisis in this country. It started with Thatcher wanting to sell council houses without replacing them. And, let’s be honest, Labour did not do nearly as much as it could to improve social housing. Year on year, the problem gets worse. Things need to change.
I grew up in Council house. I know at first hand the benefit of good secure housing for families and communities. The Tory-led Government’s plans to cap housing benefit, and to take away tenants’ security will make the crisis even worse. And the fact is, we’re just not building enough homes.
We need new and innovative thinking - like our new housing in Shephall, the first social housing in the country to be carbon neutral. And a house building programme which will stimulate the economy, so not only bringing much-needed new homes, but much-needed new jobs. It’s a win-win solution.
We also need to change the rules which prevent councils from building new homes and buying back existing homes. We need a housing policy which is flexible and enables us to have a range of social housing options, well as opening up home ownership to a new generation of Stevenage people.