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Richmond upon Thames Liberal Democrats:Covering the constituencies of Twickenham and Richmond Park |
Andrew Stunell: Coalition on Course to Be the First Government for Thirty Years to Add More Social Homes
July 20, 2011 1:39 PM
• [Jul 18] Andrew Stunell*: SOCIAL Housing matters, but it's been neglected for far too long. There's no doubt that the coalition inherited a housing crisis when we came into government, one that's been growing over the last thirty years. Social housing numbers have been in steep decline for decades, due to a combination of a lack of investment in house building, and the introduction of the Right to Buy policy during the Thatcher administration. All governments during this period have been equally to blame for allowing this to happen - there were over one million fewer homes in the social rented sector after the 18 years of Thatcher and Major. The Blair-Brown era then saw a further 420,000 homes lost from the social sector, whilst waiting lists soared from just over 1 million to 1.7 million people.
. . We all know that times are tough, and we need to learn how to do more with less in every aspect of government policy, including social housing. But even at a time when we are borrowing £400 million every day, government will still be spending billions on getting on with the job of tackling the housing problem in this country. And unlike Thatcher, or Blair, we will deliver an increase in affordable housing.
* Communities and Local Government Minister and MP for Hazel Grove.
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