Churches urged to speak out on need for affordable housing

At the Housing for the Common Good event on Wednesday, Alison Gelder, chief executive of Housing Justice, and David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, both called for an urgent national debate about ‘what sort of society we want to live in’.

Ms Gelder said: ‘Christian solidarity means the distress and deprivation suffered by our brothers and sisters who are unable to find decent affordable housing affects us all. We must shoulder the responsibility placed on us by our faith and speak up for the common good.’

Mr Orr said: ‘Before the mid-1970s housing was considered a critical public or social service. Since then, it has been considered a private good. None of the current initiatives addresses the underlying failure - to see that being well housed is critical for the whole nation, critical to our future economic success, and critical to our well-being.’

The event was organised for poverty and homelessness action week 2014, which took as its theme standing alongside people in poverty.