UK must avoid ‘housing apartheid’

Published 12th Oct 2007

Housing Minister, Yvette Cooper, has stated that Britain must never again return to the 'housing apartheid' that was the legacy of the previous Conservative Government...
Addressing the Labour party conference, the Minister said that the Government had placed housing at the top of the political agenda as they were aware of how important affordable and high quality housing was to the life chances of Britain's citizens.

The Party was well aware of the scale of the challenge now faced, she said, and of the struggles of first time buyers who could not afford a house of their own and of families stuck on council waiting lists. She added that Britain was simply not building enough homes, and hadn't been for over generation.

Northern regions growing
The Conservatives had responded to this challenge by campaigning against new housing developments, she said, and that it was a case of 'not in my backyard'.

Ms Cooper said that to address such opposition, every town and city needed to 'do its bit', and campaign to build affordable housing in all areas of the country. She added that she was 'fed up' of people talking about the north as a low demand area, and that the Northern regions were growing more than ever before, and needed more homes too.

All types of housing needed to be increased, she said, social housing, private housing and greater stock for housing associations too. She added that the Party had listened to the calls from Party members about housing powers for local councils, and would be changing the rule to make it easier for councils to build their own housing stock.

Committed to mixed communities
She stressed that the housing apartheid that existed in Britain under a Conservative Government must never happen again, and that the Government was committed to building truly mixed communities, with well designed, low carbon housing.

Britain was the first country to set a time table for all homes to be zero carbon, she said, and that she wanted to see Britain build over one million carbon free homes by 2020.

She added that the Government would work with local councils to take housing forward on the progress that had been made, and turn the UK's housing stock into something that Britain could be truly proud of.

Source: ' Move Channel Ltd '

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