Sunday, October 04, 2009

Decent housing - "all but impossible"

We read that eight years ago, the government pledged to bring all social housing in England up to a basic standard by 2010. According to a manifesto pledge, all homes would be made warm, weatherproof and have reasonably modern facilities.

But there are 700,000 properties in England which the National Audit Commission projects will miss the target.

According to the latest data from the Homes and Communities Agency , 22 councils across England have as many as one in two "non-decent" social homes. In East Durham, nearly nine out of 10 homes fail the standard.

The Audit Commission report on social housing published in September said the government's "high ambitions" for the Decent Homes scheme had not been "matched by reality". It concluded that, given the deterioration in the economy, meeting the 2010 deadline was now "all but impossible".

For a socialist approach on housing see here , Building Profits Versus Building Homes

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