‘When will this unacceptable neglect regarding social housing change for the better?’

• THE responsibility to provide truly decent, and reasonably affordable, social housing hasn’t been treated with the care and seriousness it deserves, particularly by the Margaret Thatcher Conservative government in 1979 from whom came the Housing Act in 1980, (Housing chaos: the root cause of widespread misery, Comment, October 26).

The Decent Homes programme introduced by the Tony Blair government appeared to be the policy that would raise the often shocking and unacceptably low standard that I, and many others, had become accustomed to prior to the defeat of the John Major government.

The fact that many people still pay rent to live in flats and houses that fall below the old, and updated, standards proves that the governments, starting with Thatcher’s, haven’t taken the need to raise standards and address the shortage of social housing seriously.

That failure, or complacency, on the part of the governments – Tory and Labour – has subjected vast numbers of people, particularly, those of working-class background, to a standard of living that is, frankly, unfair and cruel.

When will this unacceptable neglect regarding social housing change for the better? Many residents are vulnerable to greedy landlords who continue to use the legacy of Thatcher’s disastrous buy-to-let policy for selfish financial gain.

Will a Labour government under Sir Keir Starmer finally reset the balance and ensure that social housing is no longer a “root cause of widespread misery” for working-class people?

I hope so.

TREVOR ELLIS
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