GOVERNMENT'S HOUSING STRATEGY

EDM number 230 in 1996-97, proposed by Harry Barnes on 21/11/1996.

That this House notes the Government's labour market policy of flexibility and mobility which enocurages people seeking work to move for available jobs; further notes that privatisation of public sector council housing has substantially depleted opportunities for cheap rented accommodation; notes that 4.4 million new dwellings are needed by 2010 and that Government targets of 60,000 new dwellings a year are endangered by budget cuts; accepts the National Housing Federation's forecast of 28,000 Housing Association starts if the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme is cut to ú800 million in the forthcoming budget; believes that this mismatch between supply and demand seriously undermines the Government's policy of labour mobility; draws attention to the case of Mr and Mrs Smith of Eckington, Derbyshire, who are currently in accommodation supplied by North East Derbyshire District Council and that Mr Smith, who has been offered a job in Boldre in the New Forest, has been refused a transfer under the Homes Scheme on the grounds that waiting lists are oversubscribed and he would have to wait for one year before being eligible to apply for access to the list, during which period the only alternative is the private rented sector which they cannot afford and which Shelter describes as tending 'to be the most expensive housing, in the worst condition, with the least security and often with unscrupulous landlords'; further believes that this ridiculous catch 22 situation is representative of very many others; and urges the Government to urgently review its housing strategy.

This motion has been signed by a total of 23 MPs.