Owen Jones writing in The Independent today has summed up the need for a social house-building programme here. It is needed both to provide jobs quickly (and revitalise the economy) but also, just as importantly, to provide decent, affordable homes for the generations of young families who are otherwise confined to the vaguaries of the private rental sector. Our country has become a haven for unscrupulous landlords who have bought up large swathes of private housing to rent out and maximise the profit on. This includes many former council houses now used as an asset to be sweated by landlords who think nothing of forcing tennants to sign up to a commitment to pay future rents even after they have vacated a property so that the unscrupulous landlord can continue his profit stream even during a ‘vacant’ period on a property only let on a short term agreement.

Neither the government nor local councils are doing enough to provide affordable housing to thw millions looking for secure, affordable, homes in which to raise a family. We need to build our way out of this mess, and quickly.