Caroline Flint, in her first major speech as Minister for Housing and Planning, said that the housing shortage problems required ‘urgent attention and swift action’.
She said that creating a consensus on increasing building would be her first priority as minister and this would gather momentum over the coming months.
With the lack of supply increasing pressure on social housing, Flint, in her speech on social housing and life chances to the Fabian Society Conference, said that the focus on supply should not allow social housing to be neglected.
She stated that social housing policy required a radical rethink to provide the best service and must be based on a ‘something for something’ principle.
Flint suggested the possibility of social tenants able to work being required to enter a contract when starting a tenancy that committed them to actively finding work.
Flint said: “The acute housing shortage, with all its problems and implications, is well known and well debated. This isn’t an abstract issue of supply and demand, a dry topic for economists and commentators.
"It’s a practical, immediate problem with very real consequences for thousands of people from across the country.”
Neil Johnson, PR and policy manager for the Building Society Association, commented: “There has been a lot of talking, now there needs to be delivery. We need to get on and just build the houses.
"If more properties are built, we will see an alleviation on demand, but it does need a degree of political commitment, as this will not be fixed in six months.”
