Berry hits out at Hodge
21 May 2007
Responding to Margaret Hodge's comments that established British families should be given priority over economic migrants for council housing, especially since social housing is a limited resource, Green Party Mayoral Candidate and Principal Speaker Siân Berry said:
"Government ministers need to look at why there is such a shortage of social housing before blaming an already marginalised and villified section of society.
"In recent years, social housing provision has gone into rapid decline: in 1990, 13,000 local authority dwellings were completed. In 2004 / 2005, this figure was just 100. (2)
"The Labour party have overseen ten years of destruction of this vital resource.
"We also need to look at using existed properties more effectively - In England alone, there are almost 700 000 empty homes. We desperately need to see better use of empty privately owned property - through empowering local authorities to use Empty Property Use Orders, in appropriate cases and with proper safeguards and rights of appeal. (1)
"The government also needs to look at why we are facing such a housing crisis in London and the South-East - the overheating economy and spiralling growth in this region is causing runaway house prices and levels of private rents that make a secure, long-term home an impossibility for many people - from all backgrounds.
"Housing policy should be fully integrated with other policies to build more sustainable, self-reliant communities. The provision of housing should be coordinated with developments to provide work, leisure, education and health care, and innovative ecological housing should be the standard for all, not just a few, across the UK."
