Union launches 1m homes bid

The public-sector union launched a report in Parliament urging the government to remove all legal and financial barriers to council house- building and place a duty on local authorities to start a new generation of public-sector building programmes.

The union highlighted the urgent need for council housebuilding to end the misery of domestic overcrowding and the threat of homelessness hanging over thousands of families who have lost their homes through repossession and are struggling to find decent housing.

Speaking at the launch, UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said: "Decent homes are a prerequisite for decent health, decent education and a decent quality of life.

"One of the reasons we have record waiting lists is because there are now one million fewer homes for social rent than there were in 1979. We want to see a million affordable homes built in the lifetime of the next Parliament with local authorities having a far bigger role in delivering those new homes."

Mr Prentis argued that council housing was "good value for money" and would bring "huge benefits to the wider economy and to local economies by employing building workers.

"It can also help to prevent another housing and debt bubble by providing more affordable homes."

Association for Public Service Excellence spokesman Paul O'Brien, who has been commissioned by UNISON to carry out the report, made the case for a "more substantial programme to enable a whole new generation of sustainable council housing in the future."

The report - A New Generation of Council Housing: An Analysis of Need, Opportunity, Vision and Skills - calls for local authorities to be put back in charge of house-building.

This would "allow council housing to grow to become a quality affordable option for all, not just a safety net for some," it states.

UNISON presented the report to Housing Minister John Healey, who has been asked to consider the recommendations and look at whether councils are equipped and ready to build new homes.