Had a really good meeting at the House of Commons today, as Labour seeks to get to grips with the real housing crisis, and the lack of affordable and social homes, it is clear that both Labour and the Goverment have no intention of building more homes, but are increasingly dependent on the private rental sector to take over the role.
Bankers present said that the problem is they could not afford to loan the money that is needed to meet the huge housing demand as the new banking regulations state they need to hold 8% in reserve. He was also quick to remind us that much of the financial crisis was caused by the buy to let market, and it would be some time before the financial sector would tackle lending.
I raised the Issue of better education for tenants, and the possibilty of ending evictions where families are kicked out from job loss or health issues, as the 75.000 households evicted every year all end up on the doorstep of local councils seeking help, and at huge cost.
...Caroline Flint MP, a tough cookie by all acounts, admitted that Labour should have done more in goverment, and that paying tenants instead of landlords was a mistake, as it lead to huge numbers of landlords withdrawing from the social sector.. in all a positive 2 hours, but lots of work still to do. We really do need to build more homes, but how we get our political leaders to agree a plan is another matter.
The meeting was chaired by Alison Seabeck, shadow housing minister, and what a good job she did. As you are all aware, I am no friend of the Labour party, but after today, I did feel that these 2 Labour MPs really do want to listen and get to grips with the issue.
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