For a “just” home

Housing is presently undergoing the most serious crisis since the times of Mrs.Thatcher. Bank repossessed property has increased by 24% since the owners can no longer afford to pay the mortgages. This has brought 45000 families to be stripped of their homes while bank loans dropped by 71%. It is virtually impossible to find a respectable house with a reasonable rent, while one million six hundred thousand people are on housing waiting lists. Silvia Guzzetti interviewed Alastair Murray for SIR Europe. Mr. Murray is one of the coordinators of “Housing Justice”, an ecumenical Christian charity organization that provides support to the homeless and promotes campaigns for decent housing. The government announced a package of measures that include zero-interest loans for the first five years and a 30% supply of affordable housing for starter homes along with increased responsibilities to local authorities and social housing cooperatives for those who cannot afford to pay a mortgage. However, you declared that this is not enough. Why?“Not enough is being done for low-income families who can’t afford to buy a house, for those on council housing waiting lists, and for rough sleepers. I also believe that the government should increase subsidies to social housing cooperatives in order to provide support to those who can’t afford the cost of a mortgage and pay for part of the installments. Unfortunately there aren’t enough decent homes that can be rented at reasonable prices, thus those who want a respectable home are compelled to take a loan”. Mrs. Thatcher was the first to launch the idea that anyone can afford to buy a house. Do you consider it a just political maneuver? “The wish to own a home is a legitimate aspiration. The problem is that it’s unrealistic to believe that everyone can fulfill this dream. Mrs. Thatcher facilitated the purchase of council houses by the tenants but failed to reinvest profits in social housing. That money made a few people rich and triggered the growth of the real estate market to the detriment of those who wished to purchase a starter home and those that can’t afford a mortgage. When Mrs. Thatcher came to power in 1979, 42% of the overall British population lived in council homes, now this figure has dropped to 12%. Between 1980 and 1996, 2.2 million houses were sold to the tenants. So not enough money was invested in social housing? “That’s what happened. While hundreds of thousands of council homes were built in the 1970s, since 1979 government investment underwent severe cuts. The situation registers a slight improvement when there’s a Labor government, but in general terms both parties decrease social housing investment. The result being that those who wish to rent have to turn to the private sectors where the rents are too high or the homes are not decent. We believe that the right to a home is a fundamental human right that responds to the needs of those living in it”. Who has been stripped of this right in the United Kingdom today?“One million six hundred thousand people on council housing waiting lists, people with a low income, can’t afford a mortgage nor the expense of a rent. Some live in their parents’ homes, others sleep on the couch in friends’ homes, others live in indecent houses. In most cases we’re speaking of families in dire straits. The government has been trying to best address this issue but the local authorities in charge of social housing don’t build enough houses partly because of a shortage of funds, partly because in the richer residential areas council houses are not wanted, and partly because there is no property to build on”. Do you also provide support for the homeless?Since the 1970s we conducted campaigns with other charities that led to significant progress in reducing the numbers of rough sleepers. The homeless are often the victims of their condition that is determined by other forms of exclusion such as unemployment and marriage break-ups. This is usually limited in time and therefore it’s a problem that specific charities successfully manage to counter.”You are the product of the merging of two charities that are: “Catholic Housing Aid Society” and “Churches’ National Housing Coalition”.“Yes. In 2003 we realized that we were undertaking similar commitments and we decided to join our forces”.As a Christian organization, in what exactly do you differ from the other charities that address the problem of the homeless and of social housing? “We are more independent from the political power. The reason being that we are financially supported by the different Churches and by charitable donations, and even though we have public subsidies, this is not the main source of funds. We therefore are free to criticize government policies. Other charities that depend on State subsidies can’t avail themselves of the right to complaints”.