Labour says sale of council and housing association property will force poorer people into expensive private rented accommodation
The government’s proposed sell-off of thousands of affordable homes could add more than £4bn to the housing benefit bill over the next 30 years, Labour has claimed. The sum emerged from an opposition analysis of the housing bill, being debated this week in the House of Lords.
The bill calls for the sale of low-rent housing, which the housing charity Shelter has estimated will mean the loss of 19,000 council homes and 66,500 housing association homes.
“If you sell off genuinely affordable homes and don’t replace them, then people on lower incomes will be forced into more expensive private rented accommodation and this will mean higher housing benefit spending to cover the cost,” said John Healey, shadow secretary of state for housing. …”
East Devon Watch 