“We have to push the issue of affordable housing up the political agenda until it sits together with the economy and education – because the housing crisis impacts on everything else.”
That was the message from UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis today, at the London stage of a national enquiry into housing that is being undertaken by affordable homes alliance Housing Voice.
The alliance, which was partly the brainchild of UNISON, is trying to bring together all the different strands of the housing issue to create what Mr Prentis described as “a coherent approach” instead of all the different aspects of the question being compartmentalised.
Stressing that “affordable housing must be affordable”, he observed that, “like care of the elderly, it is an issue that should transcend political boundaries.”
But like so many others, UNISON members are suffering, he told those present, with increasing numbers now “being priced out of living in their own boroughs” in the capital.
And he stressed that housing, and the economy as a whole, “needs to grow and benefit the majority in society and not just a few at the top”.
The commission is visiting different parts of the UK to talk to people involved in all areas and levels of housing in order to help build an holistic approach to the problem.
UNISON is asking members to complete this survey on the affordable housing crisis.