Stating the obvious.
Dealing with visible policy failure isn’t enough to end homelessness.
An obvious but still necessary message from Dr Paul Watts of Birkbeck, University of London on the letters page of today’s Guardian*.
Yes, he says, it’s essential to fix the visible problem of rough sleeping. But no less essential to cut the hidden larger number of people stuck in temporary accommodation.
And to do that we need changes that are themselves hidden – or at least not yet properly on the agenda.
For Dr Watts the changes are ‘an improvement in private tenants’ security’, and more ‘genuinely affordable social rental housing’.
This makes sense to us at Citizens Advice.
We’re leading the demand for better rental tenure with our campaign, Safe and Secure – a renter’s right. And we strongly support the call for more affordable homes to rent (social or not). It’s no longer enough for policy to focus on reviving home ownership – if it ever was.
*Letters 22/08/16 – fourth letter