Only radical action can start to address the housing crisis escalated by the Con-Dem Government says Peter Gilman, Islington South CLP.

Since the Tories got back into office we have had record unemployment, especially youth unemployment, record increases in the price of food, gas, electricity and fares – and now the price of stamps is going up to subsidise the privatisation of the Post Office. We have had savage cuts in local authority funding, and Tory plans for health will bring about the destruction of the NHS.

In the Budget, the Tories gave millions in tax concessions to millionaires and Britain’s richest 1% – and paid for it by robbing Britain’s pensioners with the granny tax. As fuel prices rise, the Government has cut pensioners’ heating allowance by 20%.

The Tories want to increase rents to 80% of market levels for council and housing association tenants. In inner London this would mean rents increasing to £350-£400 a week. Iain Duncan Smith’s claim that the Tory housing policy will reduce private sector rents flies in the face of all reality – and the experience of private sector tenants whose rents are soaring. The Tory plans are a recipe for a massive increase in homelessness and, combined with cuts in housing benefit – have led to the beginning of “social cleansing” of working class people from inner London.

We must never forget that none of this would be possible without the Lib Dems’ steadfast support for the Tories, but it is not enough to condemn the Tories and their Lib Dem poodles. We need positive policies from Labour, and nowhere is this more urgent than in housing. Unfortunately this is one issue on which any vision from Labour’s front bench is sadly lacking.

To deal with the current crisis we need a socialist housing programme that includes the following key points;

• A moratorium on rent increases, ie a rent freeze, after which rent increases for social housing, both council and housing association, should never go above the rate of inflation. Every year for the last 30 years rents have risen substantially faster than the rate of inflation. As a proportion of income, rents in Britain are the highest in the EU by a huge margin.
• Protection of tenure to be maintained for all those in social housing and increased protection for all those in private rented accommodation.
• A substantial increase in the building of new social housing with the emphasis on council housing. This is not only necessary to deal with the appalling housing shortage but will stimulate the economy and help reduce unemployment. It can also be used to provide apprenticeships for many of Britain’s young unemployed.
• A cap to be introduced on all private sector rents.
• Additional help for the first time buyer.
• The setting up of a body to investigate and curtail the blatant profiteering of landlord companies and estate agents. Many people buying or renting in the private sector are being ruthlessly ripped off.