Welby calls for ‘vision to transform housing’

The Archbishop of Canterbury has called for an end to “short-termism” in housing policy.

Justin Welby said problems with housing are “blighting the lives and futures of millions of people” and is insistent there is a “moral responsibility” to change this.

The Homes for All report, setting out a new vision for England’s housing system, is to be launched in the House of Lords today.

It says that the phrase “England faces a housing crisis” has “become common parlance – and lost its power to shock”.

The report calls on the Government to legislate for a body on housing, modelled on the Climate Change Committee, which advises on emissions targets and reports to Parliament on progress made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The housing body would independently scrutinise and provide the technical expertise needed to transform housing and housing policy in England, the report said.

Mr Welby (inset) said: “Everyone should have a home that is comfortable and safe, and in a thriving community in which they can flourish. But for many people in England home means something very different. It is somewhere that is often expensive or temporary, insecure or unhealthy.

“These problems are blighting the lives and futures of millions of people, and we all have a moral responsibility to put it right.

“We must end the short-termism that is having a corrosive effect on our society and our economy.

“We can do this by agreeing a single vision of what a real home means and by creating a national housing body, akin to the Climate

Change Committee, to help deliver that vision and transform England’s housing system.”

The vision set out in the report is supported by organisation such as the homelessness charity Crisis and the National Housing Federation. The report has set out 25 key outcomes for England’s homes, housing market, housing system and housing policy. These include that people should live in homes of high minimum standards that give them stability and security, and that citizens have genuinely affordable decent housing choices in their lifetime.