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Ruth Kelly to make affordable homes a priority
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Opposition from householders to the building of council homes in their neighbourhoods must be "rooted out", new Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly said today.
Ms Kelly said that building more social and affordable houses would be a "personal priority" in her new job and indicated that she wants to change planning laws to smooth the way for new developments.
And she said she wanted an end to the culture of householders being "protective of their own space" and raising objections to social housing developments near their homes.
Her comments came as Labour MPs and homelessness charity Shelter warned that Government failure to address a crisis in social housing was providing space for the growth of the British National Party.
Labour former minister Frank Field suggested that established members of communities should be given priority over single mothers and the homeless in the queue for council homes.
And Shelter director Adam Sampson warned that a shortage of affordable homes was fuelling a "blame culture" in which white people accuse council housing departments of favouring ethnic minorities.
The issue of housing was forced to the forefront of political debate by the BNP's success in winning 11 seats on Barking and Dagenham Council in east London with a campaign focusing on the allocation of council homes to new immigrants.
But Ms Kelly said today that the key to the problem was not changes to the waiting list system, but the construction of new homes which ordinary people can afford.
"I personally think we need to put a greater emphasis on increasing housing supply in the future," she told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
"That may mean, for example, changing the planning regulations to make sure that more housing comes forward.
"It also means changing the social culture in this country where too often the case has been that people have been protective of their own space and not wanted to see more affordable housing being built.
"That is something we really need to root out.
"There is a need for more affordable homes to be built and that is going to be a personal priority for me."
Copyright Press Association 2006.
