Rough sleeping up 134 per cent while UK’s richest increase wealth by 183 per cent and developers hog land for 130,000 homes
Compassionate Conservatism? It’s more like Conscious Cruelty!
Bearing in mind the fact that the UK is the sixth-richest country in the world, the following is a scandal in itself:
Since 2010, households in temporary accommodation are up by 64% and rough sleeping is up by 134%. Officials are now probing the link between Tory cuts and homelessness. The thing is, it’s the Tories own officials that are doing the probing, so expect a whitewash. We can see you.
— Rachael Swindon (@Rachael_Swindon) October 26, 2018
Want to argue with the statistics? The evidence is all around.
From top deck of 18 bus, seeing people sleeping in places you can't see from street level. Homeless problem in London – one of world's richest cities – is truly awful. If politicians were forced to sleep on street for just one night, they would not tolerate this.
— Marcus Chown (@marcuschown) October 23, 2018
Around the corner in South Riding Street are yet more tents with people's belongings piled next to them. This is on the doorstep of the BBC at Broadcasting House. Hundreds of employees walk past every day. Some of them must be news editors. https://t.co/qbiy8w0CIC
— Marcus Chown (@marcuschown) October 25, 2018
The moral of the story:
The facts are no govt or society has the right to impose homelessness on people in freezing winter. Doesn't matter if people are Deserving or Undeserving or whatever the fuck this is all meant to be about. You make people sleep out in winter, you sign their death warrants.
— Kate B (@hangbitch) October 25, 2018
And that is the fact of the matter. Homelessness has more than doubled since 2010 because of the policies of the Conservative and Conservative-led government.
The Tories have squeezed wages and benefits to the point where people are unable to hold onto their homes; they go into debt and then they go out on the street.
But what else has been happening while all this has been going on?
“The combined wealth of the richest 1,000 people in the UK has increased by 183 per cent over the past 10 years.
“As austerity continues to bite low-income households shocking figures show the wealthiest in society now rake in almost three times what they did in 2009.
“Ten years ago the wealthiest 1,000 people in Britain had a combined wealth of £256 billion, but the same cohort now sit on some £724 billion.
“The figures show that the pace of change has been ramped up notably over the past five years, which has seen wealth grow by £274 billion, and £66 billion in the past year alone.”
So impoverishing the masses is big business for the privileged few!
Ah, but all but the most destitute have managed to find a house to live in before now. What’s the difference today? Is it the fact that fewer homes are available for rent and there is a shortage of homes-to-buy, meaning the value of mortgages has gone through the roof, and help-to-buy is a club for people who are already wealthy?
Could be!
And if you’re concerned about the shortage of new houses, you’ll be furious about this:
“Developers are sitting on land for more than 130,000 homes in England that have never been built – the worst gap on record, according to new analysis.
“The analysis of housing ministry (MCHLG) figures showed that in 2016-17, planning permission for 313,700 new homes was given, but only 183,570 homes built, meaning a notional annual gap of more than 130,000 homes, the biggest divergence since records began in 2006.
“The percentage of homes built versus permission granted was just 58%, a rate that has been roughly steady since 2012.
“Landowners sell at a price that factors in a significant increase in value after obtaining planning consent, meaning a hectare of agricultural land worth £20,000 can sell for closer to £2m if it is zoned for housing. [But] developers regularly deny using land to speculate, arguing more profit can usually be made from building.”
It’s hard to believe that when developers are sitting on land and only building houses when they can be sure of a certain price. Land has always been a certain way to make money – and look how rich the richest people in the UK have become, while property prices go through the roof…
… And the number of people thrown onto the streets increases exponentially.
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