Florence Eshalomi
Main Page: Florence Eshalomi (Labour (Co-op) - Vauxhall and Camberwell Green)Department Debates - View all Florence Eshalomi's debates with the HM Treasury
(3 days, 11 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Rachel Reeves
I did mention the SNP—I questioned why the SNP does not support defence investment in Scotland—but I can mention it again, if the hon. Gentleman would like me to. Why has the SNP let down the people of Scotland with rising hospital waiting lists? Why has the SNP let down people in Scotland with more drugs deaths? Why has the SNP let people down time and again? We are putting money into Acorn and into defence investment, and we are giving a record settlement to the SNP Government, but hopefully they will not be there for much longer.
Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall and Camberwell Green) (Lab/Co-op)
I thank my right hon. Friend the Chancellor for prioritising affordable housing, which is overdue. That extra investment will go a long way towards addressing the spiralling, broken housing system that has pushed so many people into poverty. Last year, a record 126,000 households faced homelessness, an increase of over 17,000 in one year alone. We see so many families placed in what we call temporary accommodation, but it is not temporary—five years or more is far from temporary. Children are travelling for hours to get to school, families do not have a space in which to grow up, and we have lost a decade of building the social homes that we need. I join with the likes of Shelter and the National Housing Federation in welcoming the investment in affordable housing and the certainty of a 10-year rent settlement, but we need more of these measures, and we need to build truly social homes. Can the Chancellor confirm what proportion of social rent homes will form the backbone of the affordable homes programme, to get those families into a safe, secure and stable home?
Rachel Reeves
I thank my hon. Friend for her campaigning on housing and homelessness, which is a big challenge in many of our constituencies, including hers in Vauxhall and Camberwell Green. We want to work closely with local councils and the Mayor of London to build the affordable homes that we desperately need in the capital city, where house prices and rents are still far too high for so many families. I look forward to working with my hon. Friend on just that.