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Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has called on party leaders to commit to a new bill making safe housing a legal human right, in line with the NHS and education.
In a letter to Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn and Vince Cable today, Mr Burnham said a year of working with “limited powers” had convinced him that “much faster and more radical action” is needed to tackle homelessness and the housing crisis.
He added that current commitments by the leaders “are only scratching the surface” of the homelessness problem.
“To galvanise the change we need in housing, I believe we need to make a new policy commitment to housing as an essential service guaranteed to all,” the Labour mayor wrote.
“In this, the 70th anniversary year of the NHS, I believe the main party leaders could best mark by extending universal entitlement to housing.”
He said international treaties had set a legal basis for such a move, and that it “would send a clear message of hope to the least fortunate that our country is committed to helping them to improve their lives”.
He also called for devolved mayors to be given greater powers to intervene in the housing market, including more control over welfare budgets, more control over the private rented sector and freedom to finance new housing development.
Mr Burnham has committed to ending rough sleeping in Greater Manchester by 2020. He described current levels of people sleeping on the streets as a humanitarian crisis.
Rough sleeping has increased 578% in Greater Manchester since 2010.
The combined authority is piloting a Housing First scheme, which hopes to help more than 500 people over the next three years.