Policies to tackle the housing crisis and help the homeless
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Version 0 of 1. David Cameron’s announcement that he will scrap the requirement for developers to build affordable homes for rent (Cameron to axe planning rules, 7 October) is another nail in the coffin for social housing. In Croydon, like other London boroughs, we have a lengthy housing waiting list, and this proposal is a stunning kick in the teeth for those in housing need. Under Cameron’s plans, our affordable housing offer in Croydon would be homes costing £450,000, which is well beyond the means of most of our residents and only affordable to the well-off. It would be within the reach of the fortunate few on a £77k salary; the average salary in Croydon is £27k. The housing crisis in London means that councils such as Croydon are increasingly having to make use of costly and unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation. Cameron’s starter homes scheme will only worsen the situation and put more and more families in B&Bs, as affordable rented homes currently offer councils an avenue in which to place homeless families. Scrapping affordable homes for rent could result in developers holding off on any new developments until the reforms kick in. While we fully support home ownership, this cannot be at the expense of those who cannot afford to buy their own home. The situation is compounded by making local authorities sell off properties to fund the replacement of homes sold under the extended right-to-buy scheme; again those in most housing need are the losers. It is vital that we build more social housing so we can meet housing need. Cameron’s plans will deepen the housing crisis and further alienate struggling families, cutting them off from the rest of society.Cllr Alison ButlerDeputy leader, Croydon Council • Your article (Tinkering at the edge of a crisis, 8 October) fails to mention that in the last year there were almost 18,000 affordable housing completions in London, a level not seen for more than 20 years and the equivalent of a new affordable home built every 30 minutes. This puts the mayor of London firmly on track to achieve his target of a record 100,000 affordable homes over his two terms, helping to house a quarter of a million low-income Londoners, with almost 95,000 already built. More than a third of homes coming through the planning system are for affordable housing – a higher proportion than most big cities around the world. The mayor has stretched grants to get far more for each pound of taxpayers’ money, released disused land to support tens of thousands of new homes, and introduced clear and sensible planning policies to speed up the system. Setting unrealistic targets which have failed in the past will not get new homes built quickly, nor help more Londoners to find a good home they can afford. Richard BlakewayDeputy mayor of London for housing, land and property • The level of the annual shortfall in housing delivery suggests that a step change is needed in the very mechanisms whereby houses are delivered (Crisis, what housing crisis? We just need fresh thinking, 1 October). This, however, is not just about building houses; it’s about place creation, which means delivering social, environmental and physical infrastructure alongside housing. In the present climate we cannot look only to public spending to do this. It is time to look for additional funding from the windfall in value which goes directly to private landowners when public investment in infrastructure is made, or planning permission is granted on a piece of land. There needs to be a fairer way of sharing this land value uplift between landowners and the community, to fund the housing and infrastructure the country needs. As a coalition we are asking for the UK government to put in place a mechanism whereby a proportion of this increase in land value is used to fund public goods. It’s time to tap into this source of additional public funding. It’s time for a fair deal on land.Trudi Elliott Chief executive officer, Royal Town Planning InstituteTom Papworth Senior fellow, Adam Smith InstituteCampbell Robb CEO, ShelterDavid Orr Chief executive, National Housing FederationKate Henderson Chief executive officer, Town and Country Planning AssociationJon Sparkes Chief executive, CrisisTerrie Alafat Chief executive, Chartered Institute of HousingStephen Howlett Chief executive, PeabodyMark Walton Executive director, Shared AssetsSue Percy Chief executive, Chartered Institution of Highways & TransportationCaroline Julian Head of policy programmes, ResPublica • The proposals to criminalise homelessness condemned by Ellie Goulding (Singer condemns stigmatising of homeless people, 9 October) demonstrate how people who would once have received care in a mental health facility are now abandoned to the streets, the food banks and the criminal justice system. Since the closure of long-stay hospital wards, the prison population has quadrupled. There are 70,000 more prisoners, most of whom have two or more mental health disorders. Mentally disordered people have largely lost the protection of clinical care. They use the same public services as the rest of the population, where decisions are based on administrative rules, not clinical judgment. The Department for Work and Pensions has effectively replaced the Department of Health as the default service. The bureaucrats now in charge do not pretend to respond to the needs of mentally disordered people. Decision-making has been de-skilled and dumbed-down, with tick-boxes ensuring that one size fits all; 70,000 benefit claimants are sanctioned every month, including an unknown number who are homeless with mental health problems. Health professionals were never brilliant at providing long-term care, but they did offer shelter and regular meals. Bean-counters now limit assistance, regardless of the impact on vulnerable people, their relatives and on other public services. The Victorians knew asylums shielded vulnerable people from the harsh vicissitudes of life. Perhaps we should reinvent them.Wally HarbertFrome, Somerset • I don’t believe that our officers who work with homeless people on a daily basis would share or appreciate Ellie Goulding’s baseless assertion that they have “lost touch with real people”. I can assure her the work that goes on every day to help put a roof over the head of someone who needs it is very real. I also know that the officers who work with the street homeless, not just here in Kensington and Chelsea but in other councils and voluntary organisations, have a great deal of knowledge and experience. So, when they say that giving money to street beggars is not to be advised as it will be very possibly used to fuel a drug or alcohol habit, I’ll go with their advice even if it upsets Ms Goulding. While it is true that our recent campaign asked people to think carefully before giving money to beggars, and to instead give money to organisations like St Mungo’s Broadway, it did not suggest that food should not be given, whatever Ellie Goulding might believe.Cllr Nick Paget-BrownLeader, Kensington and Chelsea council |