If social inclusion is the agenda, can someone please explain to me how disabled folk are going to get affordable housing?
I have been pretty resolute in my assertion that politics is just not my bag, so the decision to contradict myself and venture into an area in which I am no expert and which anyone who adheres to the laws of social etiquette will tell you is a big no-no, has not come lightly, but when I get a bee in my bonnet, there is just no point in trying to fight it.
On a recent visit with Tracey the Tree Hugger, who just so happens to head up development at a large housing association, after a heady mix of dessert wine and fresh country air, she provided a rather startling outline of the state of affordable housing in the UK.
I have always been baffled by the massive gap between the average salary and the cost of an entry level home, so adding the fact that affordable housing, irrespective of whether this is provided via the public, private or charitable sectors, is heading straight for mega crisis has got my goat enough to anal-ise (an expression that Mark has coined to express just how far beyond analysing situations that I go) the statistics, which has now pretty much sent me into a state of near anaphylactic shock.
There have been some pretty unfathomable predictions about the amount of people in the UK who will be unable to afford to buy or rent their homes in the private sector, which means that the demand for affordable housing will soon outstrip availability in rather gargantuan proportions. With 66% of VI folk of working age being unemployed and as disability is not one of the top criterion to get ones foot in the proverbial door, at this point of the thought process I simply wanted to run out into the streets and shout "Egads Methinks the damn is about to burst", but since for me this sort of spontaneous action is not a physical possibility, I am left to return to my pondering which invariably leads me back to the only place where things make sense and that is my dream of a world where there is a fundamental acceptance that we all deserve a shot at happiness. If society could be reorganised based on the premise that all human beings have the right to pursue happiness and live in peace and freedom, then maybe we might have a fighting chance at putting things right.
But with the upcoming election and the small issue of human nature not always erring on the side of love and compassion, the solution now lies firmly in the hands of our country's prospective leaders. I can only hope that whomever takes the helm will see this as a key issue in the repair that is necessary to reach the ultimate aim of social inclusion, which even I and my limited knowledge of party politics knows is on all radars and is vehemently beeping.
But this is where I draw the line and rather fearfully resort to what I shall refer to as blind faith and yes, I have chosen this phrase with artistic licence as both my sight and faith seem to be heading in the same direction, but I still have hope that the brains of Britain will get this one together.
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Comments
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I have also been looking for affordable housing or council-owned accommodation for many years, now, wishing to stay within the area I know and have grown up in. My efforts have been further exacerbated by the fact that I am only 38 and 99% of the available housing in my area is for over 50's only. Planning permission for a new development has recently been passed but, again, the entire estate will consist of 3 and 4 bedroom houses for private ownership. Resultantly, I am forced to live with my parents and am, thus, further impeded as I rank low on the council's housing list, not being homeless. The situation is one vicious downward spiral.
Posted by Mark Williams, 27 April 2010 (2 years ago)
