INVESTMENT IN COUNCIL HOUSING

That this House welcomes the Government's new commitment to tackle housing needs; believes that this must include a first-class council housing sector providing secure tenancies, with lower rents and charges and a landlord whom tenants can hold to account as an alternative to ownership and the private housing market and that to achieve this Government must introduce changes to local authority housing finance to enable all local authorities to bring their existing homes up to modern standards, start a new council house building programme and maintain existing and new council housing as first-class housing in years to come; and actively opposes both the stigmatisation of council housing as housing of last resort and proposals to means test or time limit secure tenancies so that local authorities can respect the choice of existing tenants who want to keep the council as their landlord and get their homes and estates improved, house the wide range of people on council housing waiting lists and so return council estates to the mixed communities they were before shortage distorted allocations policies and concentrated deprivation.