Camden backs Shelter campaign to expand UK council housing supply
Camden has joined a national campaign led by the charity Shelter calling on central government to give local authorities the funding and powers needed to grow their social housing stock.
Cabinet members Councillor Anna Wright and Councillor Nasrine Djemai have signed an open letter to government alongside other cross-party councillors, calling for greater support to expand social housing supply in the UK.
Councillor Wright joined Chris Hinchliff MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Council and Social Housing, at a Westminster meeting last week to discuss the resources local authorities need to expand council housing stock.
The discussion focused on securing greater financial support to build new council homes, upgrade and maintain existing council housing, and buy back properties previously lost through the Right to Buy scheme.
I have signed Shelter’s open letter to the government because the UK’s housing crisis demands urgent, joined-up action. For many years, central government policies have reduced the money available to councils to invest in social housing. We are living with the consequences, with thousands of people on our housing waiting list. We are calling for a new approach that backs us to grow our housing supply, not just by building, but by buying back properties and investing in the homes we already have.
Everyone deserves a safe, warm home; housing is a fundamental human right. We must take urgent action to support people across the country without a permanent home, which requires addressing the root causes of the housing crisis we are living through. In Camden, we are doing everything we can locally to build more council homes. Our Community Investment Programme (CIP) shows how we have adapted over the last 15 years to deliver new high-quality homes - but we know we must go further to respond to the growing housing pressures. That is exactly why backing Shelter’s national campaign calling on the government for the greater support needed is important to boost this vital work.