Islington (Parliament Politics Magazine) – MP Emily Thornberry has warned that “moving to Islington is impossible for an ordinary person,” highlighting London’s deepening housing affordability crisis.
In areas like Islington, where 17,000 people are on the waiting list for social housing, ordinary people are unable to afford to reside due to rising prices, overcrowding, and rising homelessness, according to MPs from all parties.
“Moving to Islington is impossible for an ordinary person,”
says local MP Dame Emily Thornberry as Parliament was told London’s housing had been hit by a “perfect storm”.
MPs highlighted the growing human cost of London’s housing crunch by providing examples of families living in cramped quarters, professionals stuck in unstable rentals, and record numbers of rough sleeping and temporary housing.
During a Commons debate, London MPs lined up to discuss the scope of the capital’s crisis, which is forcing families to live in some terrible conditions.
“Frankly, politics in Islington begins and ends with housing,”
Dame Emily stressed.
“We have some very rich people, some lucky people and some very poor people in Islington, but moving to Islington is impossible for an ordinary person.”
Many people who wished to rent privately in Islington, she continued, had to share a home and “have a single person sleeping in the sitting room.”
She clarified that Islington South and Finsbury were home to “120,000 people crammed into the seventh smallest constituency in the country.”
Given the high cost of land, she continued, Islington Council has a policy requiring 50% of all new developments to be affordable, but this hasn’t stopped new house proposals.
What measures has the government proposed for the London housing crisis?
Fast- tracking the planning process for spots that commit to delivering at least 20 affordable casing, with a target that 60 of those homes are for social rent. Removing design guidelines that constrain casing viscosity and furnishing temporary relief from development impositions to ameliorate design viability.
Granting the Mayor of London new powers to review and call in casing schemes of 50 or further homes where original megalopolises might refuse authorization, and the capability to make opinions on larger developments on green belt land.
Housing Secretary Steve Reed emphasized the need for critical action to get further homes erected and delivered, with these measures designed to give the capital a” shot in the arm” to increase affordable casing force and address the severe casing deficit in London.