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The future of council housing: it’s time to speak up
EILEEN SHORT, of Defend Council Housing, and Dr GLYN ROBBINS report on a crucial all-party parliamentary group inquiry into council housing that’s currently seeking members of the public to have their say
An aerial view of terraced housing and blocks of flats in west London

MPs HAVE launched an inquiry into the future of council housing. The inquiry, by the all-party parliamentary group for council housing, chaired by Matt Western MP, was launched to a packed room of tenants and housing groups, councillors, trade unions, and MPs in July and is now gathering steam with events across Britain.

The terms of reference include collecting evidence on how local authorities are coping with trying to meet ever-increasing housing need with ever-dwindling resources, and hearing from tenants about disrepair, overcrowding and other day-to-day realities, alongside the importance of council housing in their lives.

The background to this is rising rents and evictions that have “left areas that did not have a significant problem with homelessness suddenly confronting soaring numbers of people with nowhere to live,” as the Financial Times reported (September 19). The chickens of 40 years of underinvestment in council housing are coming home to roost. 

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