“The new investment pales by comparison with the scale of housing need...” Kate Henderson of the National Housing Federation, and others, have described the housing package announced in the Spring Spending Review as “transformational”. This is hyperbole. Jules Birch is closer to the mark when he wrote in Inside Housing that “The new investment pales … Continue reading Step up the pressure for 90,000+ social rent homes a year
Category: Labour government
Drop the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments Bill
At the time of writing more than 120 Labour MPs have signed a "reasoned amendment" which "declines to give a Second Reading" to the Bill, threatening to kill it off. If all the opposition MPs supported the amendment then the government would be defeated. If the Tories were to come to the government's rescue, it … Continue reading Drop the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments Bill
Spring Spending Review initial response
All available funding should go to social rent homes - £3.9 billion a year is insufficient to resolve the housing crisis The delayed Spring Spending Review included the announcement that the Affordable Homes Programme would provide £39 billion over ten years, an average of £3.9 billion a year. Whilst this is an improvement on the … Continue reading Spring Spending Review initial response
Rachel Reeves CLP opposes disability benefit cuts
Rachel Reeves own Constituency Party, Leeds West and Pudsey, has opposed the ill-health and disability benefit cuts that the government is proposing to push through. There was no support for the policy. Below is the motion that was passed. No cuts to Disability benefits Our Labour government has announced cuts of more than £6bn to … Continue reading Rachel Reeves CLP opposes disability benefit cuts
“Tough on developers, big on building council housing”
Chris Hinchliff, Labour MP for NE Hertfordshire, contests the government's strategy on planning. He says that its “Time for a left alternative on planning: tough on developers, big on building council housing.” In an article written for PoliticsHome he says that the government is mis-diagnosing the roots of the housing crisis “The misdiagnosis on supply … Continue reading “Tough on developers, big on building council housing”
The government should abandon its ill-health and disability benefit cuts
Our campaign is calling on Labour MPs to demand the government abandon these cuts. If it proceeds with them then they should vote against them. We share the widespread outrage at the government's proposed cuts to ill-health and disability benefits. The Guardian got it right when it said “It is shameful for a Labour government … Continue reading The government should abandon its ill-health and disability benefit cuts
Austerity by another name: “Exceptional Financial Support”
There can be no resolution of the housing crisis without a break from austerity The financial crisis of local government is spiralling out of control. 30 councils have been granted “Exceptional Financial Support” which offers no support but only more debt. Does this impact on Housing Revenue Accounts, which are 'ring-fenced'? How does the crisis … Continue reading Austerity by another name: “Exceptional Financial Support”
Above inflation rent increase won’t resolve the council housing financial crisis
Rather than proposing to increase the financial pressure on tenants with above inflation rent increases, councils should be seeking the support of tenants in a campaign for the government to fund HRAs sufficiently to maintain and improve existing homes. Support for the government's proposal for 5 years of above inflation rent increases for council and … Continue reading Above inflation rent increase won’t resolve the council housing financial crisis
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
Local democracy and council housing
A series of government measures threaten to undermine local democracy and give developers and the big builders a free pass to step up their profiteering. The government's Devolution White Paper proposes imposing change on councils based on an arbitrary figure of 500,000 population. It is proposing to impose tenure blind housing targets on councils which … Continue reading Local democracy and council housing
Labour Campaign for Council Housing 