It’s good to see our latest campaign is already having an impact on politicians – House Proud had its first success before it even launched.
The Liberal Democrats did their bit towards meeting one of the campaign’s demands – that each major party dedicate a section of their manifesto to housing – by issuing a pledge on the subject last Thursday.
Admittedly we might have trouble claiming this was a direct result of the campaign, as it didn’t launch until the next day, but it is a promising start, nonetheless.
The Lib Dems’ manifesto pledge focused on bringing empty homes back into use – the subject of another Inside Housing campaign last year. The party has pledged to invest £1.4 billion in bringing 100,000 empty homes into the socially rented sector, and improving a further 150,000 private homes.
Some commentators on this site, and elsewhere, have pointed out that it is easy to make such promises when you have little chance of winning the election. But the Lib Dems could gain influence both in Westminster and locally.
It is also encouraging that the party is giving prominence to housing issues. The core aim of House Proud, which is jointly run by Inside Housing and the Chartered Institute of Housing, is to stress the contribution of housing to every aspect of social policy.
If the Lib Dems have picked up on the message, then hopefully the Conservatives and Labour will do the same.
Next time, we might even be able to claim a bit more of the credit.
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