CIH response to speculation on a British homes for British workers policy

Yesterday, The Guardian wrote an article - Tory social housing plan aims to prioritise ‘British homes for British workers’ - about a possible government proposals for social housing allocations.

CIH chief executive Gavin Smart has provided a statement on the article and possible policy:

"It’s hard to comment on speculative policy but we’re concerned that the focus here is in the wrong place.

"We’ve currently got 1.4 million people on the social housing waiting list and it’s growing by the day. Homelessness is at record levels and councils are struggling with the cost of rising temporary accommodation. We urgently need to increase the supply of social rented homes – that means building more and reducing the loss generated by policies such as right to buy.

"Further rationing of an already scarce resource does not address this. And with government data showing that 90 per cent of new lettings in social housing go to UK nationals it’s questionable whether the new approach suggested would achieve its intended aims.

"We would urge the government to focus efforts on housing solutions to boost supply. We’re committed to working with them on this – building on our collective calls for a genuine long-term plan for housing."