"Lack of housing should shame us all" - John Leech MP

10.55.38am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 26th Jun 2007

John Leech MP has worked to raise the issue of the housing shortages in Manchester and across Britain

John Leech MP has joined thousands of others in signing the Wall of Shame created by the housing charity Shelter in order to raise the profile of the housing crisis facing Britain.

A shocking 27,000 people are on the housing waiting list in Manchester alone. Meanwhile, one in seven children growing up in the UK is homeless or is living in inadequate accommodation.

"This is one of the most shocking failings of the Labour government," commented John Leech at the event in Manchester city centre. "Basic housing is a right and not a privilege yet this government continues to turn a blind eye to the situation."

"The situation looks like getting far worse as the affects of government mismanagement of the planning system begin to bite. Recent figures suggest that Britain will need 5 million extra homes over the next 20 years and present trends suggest we'll be nowhere near that number.

"We must increase shared-ownership schemes, improve social considerations on planning applications but most of all, we need more homes."

<<ENDS>>

John Leech MP has signed Early Day Motion 153 - Social Housing, the text of which is set out below

SOCIAL HOUSING

20.11.2006

Starkey, Phyllis

That this House welcomes the progress made in reducing the numbers of homeless people forced to sleep rough and the numbers of homeless families trapped in unsuitable bed and breakfast accommodation; welcomes the Government's more recent commitment to halve the number of homeless households in temporary accommodation by 2010 and to increase the proportion of family-sized homes being built for overcrowded families; notes that the Chancellor has acknowledged that new social housing must be a priority in next summer's Comprehensive Spending Review; notes that the Communities and Local Government Select Committee recently endorsed Shelter's campaign for an extra 20,000 social rented homes to be built each year above existing commitments; and calls on the Government to make a commitment to build these homes in order to make further progress to ensuring the objective of a decent home for all.