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Families need a roof
• ISLINGTON Council boasts it has started to build council houses for the first time in 25 years. There is a chronic shortage of housing for our growing population. Under this Labour government, we have had the lowest rate of house construction for more than 20 years, yet the number of households being created is on the increase.
Islington Conservatives are glad to see the council is showing some leadership but there are two important issues that need to be reviewed before agreeing it is doing the right thing.
First, are we building the housing we need? Islington, and indeed London, is full of bedsits, one and two-bedroom apartments. We do not have a shortage of flats for students or young professionals but we do have a shortage of family housing. It’s all very well if we build new housing units, but if they do not help those who really need help – families on the waiting list living in cramped, unsuitable housing – then we are no better of.
And are we satisfied that Homes for Islington, working with the council, will actually provide good housing for these new council tenants? In past years there have been such mixed experiences, many of them unfortunately quite bad, that lead us to query whether HfI should be given more housing to manage.
Duncan Webster
Chairman, Islington Conservatives
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