The housing crisis and how we should respond

Britain is facing a housing crisis. The Thatcherite 'right to buy policy' has resulted in a marked reduction in council housing with forty per cent of such properties now in the hands of private landlords.  The sell-off of council estates (particularly in London) and welfare policies such as the  so-called 'bedroom tax' have resulted in people being forced out of their homes. Whilst the rise of rental costs and increases in house prices are making housing increasingly unaffordable for people, particularly those on low incomes.

In fact the situation is so bad that even Conservative MPs are not immune. William Wragg, MP for Hazel Grove, recently admitted that he  has moved back to his parents' home as he cannot afford to buy his own property, despite earning £74,000 a year (2.8 times the national average salary). 

To date, the UK government's response to this crisis has been totally inadequate. By his sixth year as Prime Minister, David Cameron has regularly failed to build enough houses. And his recent declaration to create 13,000 new 'affordable homes' is already being criticised as a anything but, with a starting price of £450,000 in London being unaffordable for the majority. In addition, the decision to extend right-to-buy on to housing association properties and increase the sale of council housing, proposed in the Housing and Homelessness Bill, are likely to make things much worse.

Ekklesia believes that safe, affordable, accessible housing should be available for everyone, and that tackling the housing crisis is one of the critical issues of our generation. It is for this reason that we have commissioned our second groundbreaking book, 'Foxes Have Holes: Christian Responses to Housing Need.' which was made possible thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign in the Autumn.

The book is a series of essays covering topics such as the why Christians should care about housing; the history of housing in Britain, social housing, the housing market, concluding with a ten point action plan for change. The book is edited by Andrew Francis, and includes contributions from Trisha Dale,  Andrew Francis, Reverend David Walker, Bishop of Manchester, Sean Gardiner, Chris Horton,  Helen Roe, Helen Woolley, Raymond Young and Paul Lusk

We hope this will be a timely contribution to a debate about a subject that affects all of us, no matter what our political affiliations. We intend it to be the beginning of a conversation

The book is currently in production, and will be launched on 14 April at 7pm at Manchester Cathedral.  All welcome!

We will also be having further events in London, Edinburgh and possibly Oxford. 

© Virginia Moffatt. Virginia Moffatt is Chief Operating Officer of Ekklesia.