Protests about the negative effects of the government’s cuts
to social security payments abound. I have had multiple face book messages
asking me to sign the petition on disability living allowance.
One journalist
clearly identifies that the effects of the cuts will be exacerbated by the ‘crazily
overheated rental property market’.
The solution favoured by London Councils struggling with
this problem – move people out of London; it’s cheaper to buy accommodation for
them in Hastings, Manchester and Slough than it is in Hackney and Islington.
However, there is another solution: we should regulate the
rental market to keep private rents down. Anathema to Tories, of course, but
why isn’t Labour saying this? Green Party policy is that housing is a right –
then one way of ensuring that right is mechanisms to keep rents down to
affordable levels.
And we should be shouting that from the rooftops.
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