UNISON has also joined an alliance of campaign groups, trade unions and housing organisations to oppose the Housing and Planning Bill, a letter highlighting shared concerns about the Bill has been published in the Guardian.
UNISON is concerned that the Bill, which is currently being considered by the public committee will result in fewer affordable homes, deepen the housing crisis and lead to social cleansing by forcing families into insecure, cheaper, sub-standard, private lets.
The bill’s focus on homeownership, such as the proposed Starter Homes scheme, which it prioritises above other types of housing, will not only result in fewer affordable social homes but it will fuel housing costs, which is already on the rise.
As a consequence people on low to middle incomes will find it even more difficult to access a decent home to rent or buy, and there will be an increase in social problems such as poverty, overcrowding and homelessness and the social cleansing of people out of high property value areas into insecure private renting.
A study published by Savills, the property adviser, has warned that the government’s focus on boosting homeownership will exclude at least 70,000 new households each year from buying or renting at a cost they can afford. This means that 350,000 households in England will need some form of sub-market housing by 2020.
The union is campaigning and working with MPs and Lords to improve the Bill as it makes its way through Parliament.
To find out more about the Housing and Planning Bill and UNISON’s opposition to it, download UNISON’s policy briefing on the Bill.
