At the weekend London’s new mayor, Sadiq Khan, outlined his plans for the capital, saying: “The key thing for me is to tackle the housing crisis.” This was welcomed by those of us who have been campaigning on this issue. Less so what followed, with Khan adding: “I am bringing together an alliance of people from local authorities, housing associations, developers.” He can do much better than that. There have been enough summits and meetings. It is time for action and (if needs be) the shaming of the government by the mayor of London about the crisis that the government has itself contributed to.
The housing situation in the UK is so bleak that the key reason increasing numbers of people are becoming homeless is that they are unable to pay extortionate private sector rents. In February 2016, the Financial Times described the help-to-buy scheme as “help to cry”, naming it “one of the most perversely named government policies ever”. Squatting is on the rise again despite being outlawed in 2012: when people’s only choice is criminalised, the legitimacy of the law itself is discredited.
