Andy Burnham is under pressure to grant councils enhanced authority to acquire or lease vacant properties in an effort to address the homelessness crisis. This plea originates from Big Issue founder Lord John Bird, who highlights the plight of over one million families awaiting housing placements and a surge in children residing in temporary accommodations, such as B&Bs.
Lord Bird advocates for a government-backed loan initiative that he believes could facilitate the creation of numerous social housing units, thereby alleviating the homelessness predicament. Emphasizing the urgency of the matter, he urges Burnham to take decisive action upon assuming office to demonstrate a genuine commitment to tackling homelessness.
In his appeal, Lord Bird underscores the paradox of vacant properties coexisting with families in need and councils struggling to secure temporary lodgings. He stresses the imperative for the incoming government to adopt innovative strategies to address systemic challenges and proposes a loan scheme to enable councils to acquire or lease unoccupied residences for social housing purposes.
Lord Bird has introduced amendments to the Social Housing Bill in the House of Lords to expedite the process of repurposing thousands of abandoned homes for social housing. The proposed changes seek to reduce the timeframe for Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs) from two years to six months, allowing timely intervention by local authorities.
With an estimated 300,000 vacant homes in England and over 1.3 million households on social housing waiting lists, the need for swift action is evident. Lord Bird’s amendment also includes the establishment of a government-backed loan scheme to facilitate the purchase or leasing of unoccupied properties for subsequent refurbishment.
Incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham has underscored his commitment to addressing the housing crisis, vowing to initiate the most extensive council housebuilding program since the postwar era. He laments the decline in public housing stock since the implementation of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s Right to Buy policy in the 1980s, characterizing the current state as a “housing trap.”
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