Tough on Housing Poverty, Tough on the Causes of Housing Poverty?

Having a safe and secure place you can call home is vital part of wellbeing. If the last ten years of a Labour Government was shaped by the need to make the case for public service investment, I believe the next ten will be dominated by questions of quality of life and equality of life chances. For me housing is at the heart of these concerns. Whether the provision of more affordable and social housing, the impact it has on our economy and family income levels or the importance it has to sustainable development and regeneration, the cost of living is fundamental to creating a more socially just future for many people in Walthamstow and the UK. 

As a politician I don't believe you can simply wait for others to come up with solutions to these issues; you have to be capable of problem solving yourself if you're to be effective.  My experience of working locally tells me still too many people  find themselves caught in the quirks of our system which put their tenancies and homes at risk so I've been exploring options to address these issues. On the campaigns pages here you'll find out details of the work I'm doing on the difficulties caused by being housed out of borough with the Citizens Advice Bureau. I'm also a supporter of the Foyer Federation's work challenging the 16 hour rule which affects many vulnerable young people. Yesterday my discussions with a local resident raised another issue. Anyone who goes on a training course finds their housing benefit automatically ends at the end of the course meaning a new claim has to be made which can take weeks to process. This can lead to rent arrears and so acts as a massive disincentive to gain training or skills yet we know that these can be critical to securing employment. I'll be meeting with Shelter soon to discuss these problems and more - if you have other examples or issues you think are relevant get in touch, I'd be interested to hear about them.