This is an article for the Red Brick Blog. Editor Rose Grayston has said that our campaign "is right that we don't yet have the policy to meet Labour's promise on the biggest council house building programme since 1980." The first tranche of funding for the Government's Social & Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) has been … Continue reading Social rent council housing should be the Government’s first housing priority
Category: Council House building
Labour conference votes for 90,000 social rent council homes a year, ending Right to Buy and cancelling council housing debt
At this year's Labour conference the Labour Campaign for Council Housing's resolution, sent in by at least 10 CLPs, was kept off the agenda by a decision of the Conference Arrangements Committee1. It was judged not to be a 'contemporary motion' because, we were told, the National Policy Forum report had 'substantially' covered the issues … Continue reading Labour conference votes for 90,000 social rent council homes a year, ending Right to Buy and cancelling council housing debt
Dear Angela
A letter to Angela Rayner highlighting the changes needed to the government's housing policy if the housing crisis is to be resolved. Dear Angela Congratulations on your appointment as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities & Local Government. In a recent video you circulated, you said that the Prime Minister has given you three priorities, … Continue reading Dear Angela
Public funding is the means to build/acquire social rent council homes
Andy Burnham's speech in the Manchester People's History Museum, in which he said that a government led by him would carry out “the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period”, has raised hopes that if he becomes Prime Minister there would be a change of direction in the government's housing policy, with council … Continue reading Public funding is the means to build/acquire social rent council homes
Shelter petition: introduce a bill to get councils building social homes again
“With record levels of homelessness, including 175,990 children growing up in temporary accommodation, we're calling on the government to introduce a new Get Councils Building Bill at the King's Speech on 13 May. This bill would tackle the barriers that are holding councils back from building the social homes we need. Social homes provide a foundation … Continue reading Shelter petition: introduce a bill to get councils building social homes again
“The speculative builder is an unplannable instrument” – lessons from the Attlee government, Part 1
This year sees the 80th anniversary of the election of the post war Labour government. The General Election took place on July 5th. The result was announced on July 26th owing to the counting of the votes of troops abroad. Despite dire economic circumstances, far worse than we face today, the government set up the … Continue reading “The speculative builder is an unplannable instrument” – lessons from the Attlee government, Part 1
Rachel Reeves’ CLP calls for 100,000 council homes year and affiliates to the Labour Campaign for Council Housing
Leeds West and Pudsey Constituency Labour Party, for which Rachel Reeves is the MP, has passed a motion calling for, amongst other things, 100,000 council homes a year and ending Right to Buy. It agreed to affiliate to our campaign; the second Leeds CLP to do so. The passing of the resolution reflects the widespread … Continue reading Rachel Reeves’ CLP calls for 100,000 council homes year and affiliates to the Labour Campaign for Council Housing
Background to the Labour Campaign for Council Housing
These are the notes of a speech by Carol Hayton, founding member of the Labour Campaign for Council Housing, given to Witney CLP. Formed in 2019 by a group of Labour members who were concerned about the housing crisis and the lack of political will, on the part of successive governments, to take any meaningful … Continue reading Background to the Labour Campaign for Council Housing
Do we really want more “poor quality/slum housing”?
The government should end conversions without planning permission Early in 2024 Labour opposed the extension of Permitted Development Rights on the basis that it would “add to the quantum of poor-quality/slum housing that post-2013 PDR expansion has created”. Yet the new government has refused to bin this planning deregulation. It says it will “keep it … Continue reading Do we really want more “poor quality/slum housing”?
Time to end the charade of “affordable housing”
In a letter to the Chair of Homes England, Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State (Housing, Communities & Local Government) has outlined the government's “immediate priorities”. One of them is for Homes England to maximise the number of social rent homes “delivered through the allocation of remaining Affordable Homes Programme funding”. However, the letter gives no … Continue reading Time to end the charade of “affordable housing”
