A report by the commission on social housing convened by the charity Shelter takes up a number of proposals put forward by the disaster’s survivors. The new organisation, the report argues, should proactively inspect private as well as social landlords, and set clear standards. Falling rates of ownership and the ballooning housing benefit bill, as well as Grenfell, mean the terms of the housing debate have changed. Having previously believed that the market could deliver her party’s vision of a property-owning democracy, she now endorses a vast expansion of public housing. The provision of high-quality housing to the toughest environmental standards, in mixed communities, is in the national interest, unlike the speculation and rent-seeking that characterise our dysfunctional housing market.

Source: The Guardian January 13, 2019 18:45 UTC