Jack Dromey – 2012 Comments on Subletting Council Houses

The comments made by Jack Dromey, the Shadow Housing Minister, on 11 January 2012.

The subletting of council homes for financial gain prevents those in real need from getting a home and should be stopped. Labour is committed to ending this abuse and before the 2010 election we set out plans to make the unlawful subletting of social homes a criminal offence.

However, Grant Shapps has taken his eye off the ball and is looking for someone to blame for this Government’s failures. Labour councils have been cracking down on sub-letters for years. The vast majority of people living in council houses pay their taxes and play by the rules. The real problem is that this Tory-led Government’s failed economic policies led to a catastrophic 99% collapse in the building of affordable homes in the last six months.

Since the Government launched its housing strategy in November, we have seen the effects of this out of touch Government’s failing housing and economic policies laid bare. Housebuilding is down, homelessness is up, we have a mortgage market where people can’t get mortgages and rents are soaring in the private rented sector. These are the fundamental issues the Government needs to address.

With millions in need of a decent home at a price they can afford, the country is gripped by a growing housing crisis. We need an increase in house building now more than ever and the Government is failing to deliver.