Housing Justice News Release 06 December 2005
For immediate release
Housing Justice fears government commitment to new homes is too little too late
Housing Justice today welcomed the new homes, reforms to the planning system and emphasis on building sustainable communities that Chancellor Gordon Brown and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott proposed in their response to the Barker Review on Monday but fears it may be too little, too late.
Director of External Affairs at Housing Justice, Alison Gelder, commented “We welcome the government’s commitment to increase housing supply and recognition that building sustainable communities means more than just housing. It is vitally important that facilities such as churches and community resources are not overlooked."
"While we welcome the attention the government has paid to the environmental and water supply considerations, we urge the government to take seriously the need to develop economic and social infrastructure alongside sustainable housing.”
“However we feel that the government’s plans will do little for the 100,000 households currently living in temporary accommodation. What homeless families require is permanent council or housing association accommodation. The government’s emphasis on home ownership and the timescale for new social housing construction will mean that it is likely to be 2008 at the earliest before we see significant numbers of new social homes. Barker set out what was required to meet current demand for housing, we fear that the delay in building new social housing will make the problem far worse.”
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Notes
The Barker Review of Housing Supply was published in March 2004. It set out a strategy to meet existing and new demand for housing. It conservatively recommended that between 70 and 120,000 extra private sector homes should be built each year and up to 23,000 additional new social homes a year to meet demand. The Barker Review is available on the Treasury website www.hm-treasury.gov.uk
The government’s response to the Barker Review, published 5 December 2005, is available on the ODPM website www.odpm.gov.uk. It pledges to increase housing supply by 50,000 new homes a year and promises to make the construction of new social housing a priority in the 2007 Spending Round.
About Housing Justice
Housing Justice is the national voice of Christian action to prevent homelessness and bad housing. It was formed in April 2003 through the merger of two long-standing housing charities, the Catholic Housing Aid Society (CHAS) and the Churches National Housing Coalition (CNHC) bringing together more than 60 years of experience of working for change in the field of housing.
Housing Justice provides frontline services to people in housing need and campaigns to improve housing policy. Housing Justice funds a network of 10 housing advice agencies and numerous community projects, and develops models of good practice for frontline services that local groups can adopt. In total Housing Justice is actively involved in 35 communities across England and Wales.
Housing Justice Regenerate, funded by the Home Office’s Civil Renewal Unit, supports resident-led regeneration in 15 guide neighbourhoods across the UK. Regenerate brings together residents who have transformed their estates with those who want to embark on the regeneration process to share thinking and offer support.
Housing Justice works with and for homeless and badly housed people of all denominations, and with those who have no religious beliefs. All our services are offered to the whole community and, wherever possible, we work in partnership with others who share our values, regardless of religious beliefs.
For further information on Housing Justice see www.housingjustice.org.uk
Contact
Luke Evans 020 7723 7273
email media@housingjustice.org.uk