Shelter responds to Conservative Manifesto commitments on housing

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: “Despite rents surging, evictions soaring and record homelessness, the Conservative Manifesto fails to provide a secure future for the millions of people whose lives are being devastated by the housing emergency. It beggar’s belief that there is no clear plan to tackle spiralling homelessness and the only mention of social housing is to scapegoat people for the failure to build enough.

“Help to Buy has been proven to do more harm to our housing system than good. Not only does it drive up house prices and help only a small minority of people, it ultimately takes money away from building genuinely affordable housing. Five years on, it’s good to see a recommitment to ending Section 21 no fault evictions – which must be a top priority for the next government.

“With 1.3 million households stuck on social housing waiting lists and over a quarter of a million social homes lost in the last decade, no party can deliver a secure future until they commit to building 90,000 social homes a year with rents tied to local incomes.”

ENDS