CIH publishes its housing manifesto

Decent and affordable homes make our lives better - providing the safe and secure foundation we all need. But shortages and unequal access mean too many people (often the most vulnerable) are forced to live in overpriced, insecure and poor-quality homes. We’re all paying the price for this. Poor housing costs the NHS £1.4 billion each year. It negatively impacts a child’s education and has long-term effects on incomes and employment.

At the heart of the issue is supply - housebuilding has failed to keep pace with demand for years. Latest forecasts suggest we could see over 300,000 GB households experiencing the worst forms of homelessness in 2023. A shocking one in five children are living in overcrowded, unaffordable or unsuitable homes.

We need political commitment to turn things around. At CIH we’re urging all political parties to commit to a long-term plan for housing which recognises it as the foundation for creating healthy and sustainable communities.

We can do this with a focus on more homes and better homes. The 10 point plan we’ve published today unpacks this further, with more detail set out in our Strategy for housing. To see what this means for our devolved nations click here.

Over the coming weeks and months we’ll be talking to members and partners about how we can drive delivery of these asks. If you’d like to discuss further please get in touch with the policy team at policyandpractice@cih.org