From the left: The United Kingdom
At least some people in Britain, including those who vote labour, are looking forward to leader Jeremy Corbyn’s regular promises of 1,000,000 new units of social housing. Corbyn would go further and end the UK’s Right to Buy program which continues to erode the country’s social housing stock. Read more in The Mirror: Labour promises to build 1 million affordable homes in 10 years
Promises, promises. You can get away with mere promises if your party is the Opposition, like Labour. Two years ago it was the same number of homes, but twice as fast. Read more in The Guardian: Jeremy Corbyn ‘would build 1m new homes’ in five years of Labour
Promises or not, Britain is at least being offered a clear alternative to the current Conservative Government’s public/private development scam, with houses labeled affordable up to £450,000, developers sliding out of commitments, and the promised housing serving many income brackets.
And in the Mushy Middle: Canada
Canada’s federal government has largely rested on its laurels earned in the post-WWII social housing programs which peaked in the early 1970’s. The feds pulled out of social housing entirely in the 1990’s and barely dipped its toe in the water again until late last year, when it announced a thirteen billion dollar housing fund to be doled out over ten years. It comes none to soon for public and social housing in Canada, which has been suffering benign neglect by the feds, the provinces and cities year after year. As a result, the existing social housing is showing its age, as well as the inevitable decay following years of tight purse strings.
In the spirit of the great actor Ginger Rogers, who did everything Fred Astaire did while dancing backwards on high heels, Canada will not only build affordable housing, it will do it green, energy efficient, and accessible to people with disabilities. That’s Canada!
Read more in the Toronto Star: Feds target shovel-ready projects for quick wins on $13B social housing fund
Meanwhile, from the right: The United States
Donald Trump’s Republican administration slowly builds to full steam ahead. The goal is dismantling the remaining social housing programs, which are portrayed as ‘entitlements’. The latest move will raise rents, no doubt to encourage those citizens who can’t pay the rent with two minimum wage jobs to get three instead. (Bonus: working 24 for hours a day will mean one less person who believes they are ‘entitled’ to housing.)
With a dysfunctional Congress, even with Republican majorities in both houses, it is unlikely to get the necessary legislation passed.
Read more in the Los Angeles Times: What homeless crisis? HUD Secretary Ben Carson wants to raise rents on the poorest of the poor
