October 6: Housing crisis returns to the age of Rachman

ACCORDING to the latest reports, more than 100,000 children in Britain are homeless and having to live in temporary accommodation with their parents.

This is shocking statistic in one of the world’s wealthiest nations. No doubt most, if not all, of these families are also dependent on food bank handouts for their meagre existence. Meanwhile the Government is to spend billions of pounds replacing the Trident nuclear missile defence system. A total waste of taxpayers’ money.

In addition, the Government totally ignores the plight of these destitute families by relaxing planning regulations, thereby enabling developers to build houses for sale more or less wherever they like.

Such housebuilding is not what is required – most needed is low rent housing to address the needs of the homeless and low paid. Also, the fools in Westminster plan to worsen the chronic housing crisis by compelling both councils and Housing Associations to sell off some of their low cost social housing stock. Such a foolish policy will only make matters worse and hasten the return in Britain of Rachman-style private landlords so prevalent in the 1950s and 1960s.