Now is the Time

Millions of people are being pushed to breaking point by housing costs. High housing costs are trapping people in bad housing, causing homelessness and wrecking people’s chances in life.

• More than two million households are spending more than half their income on housing costs.[1]
• Nearly a quarter of the country’s households (six million) suffer from stress or depression worrying about their housing costs and four million people admit it’s kept them awake at night. [2]
• In the last year a quarter of all households have had to reduce their food shopping in order to meet housing costs and over a third have cut back on family treats.[3]

At the heart of Britain’s housing problems is the failure by successive Governments to build enough homes to keep pace with demand.

We have an historic opportunity to fix this.

In 2007 Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged to build three million new homes in England by 2020 to help ease the housing crisis.

We need to ensure that the right kind of homes are built in the right place and offered at the right price. It is vital that a significant proportion of new housing is affordable, including social housing for rent.

Shelter has launched its brand new Now is the Time Campaign. We are calling for more affordable homes, protection for people who are homeless or in bad housing and an end to the housing divide.

Now is the Time to right housing wrongs.

[1] Breaking Point report, Shelter, London, 2008

[2] Ibid

[3] Ibid