Catholic agency chief warns of revolution in housing sector
Housing Justice director Alison Gelder has warned that changes taking place in the housing sector amount to “a revolution.”
Under the planning system envisaged, everything is going to local level. “The neighbourhoods will be dealing with issues like housing and transport. Catholic parishes have a vital role to play at that level – they must have a voice in that planning process,” said Mrs Gelder, who told how those taking local authority tenancies will have their occupancy reviewed every two years now, rather than have the tenancy for life.
Another development sees the Supporting People grant to local authorities no longer being ring fenced off. “Local authorities will be deciding what to support, so this could mean a quarter of hostel places for the homeless will be under threat,” said Mrs Gelder, who pointed out that the Passage’s contract for dealing with people on the street had been cut by 25 per cent.
Mrs Gelder urged Catholics to lobby MPs on these issues and join the TUC led march on 26 March against the cuts.
For more information on Housing Justice see: www.housingjustice.org.uk/