Shelters help the homeless campaign and petition

Op-Ed: Eileen Kersey: Government spin on the British housing crisis offers no real help to those without a home. As Christmas approaches the U.K. housing crisis means that too many people, including families, will experience a Christmas without real 'cheer'.

Veteran housing campaign group Shelter has started its Christmas campaign early in order to make the public aware and try to bring real positive change to the lives of many.

Forget arguments about increased migrant numbers in the U.K.; the country is failing its nationals who have fallen on hard times perhaps through ill health, unemployment or sheer bad luck.

Shelter has organised a petition to Chancellor George Osborne asking that more 'affordable' homes are built.

The keyword there is 'affordable'. In London as house prices escalate properties are bought by foreign non-doms, oligarchs and big business-the ordinary Londoner has little chance of ever getting a foot on even the bottom rung of the housing ladder.

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Social housing is starting to be in short supply as the government commits to further sales of such property. Private rented landlords are able to offer short-term leases since previous Tory de-regulation.

The Tories may blame the last Labour government for failing to act but it was during Thatcher's reign that housing stocks were decimated.

Shelter’s petition says:

This Christmas, 100,000 children will be homeless.

It’s time to do something about it.

No child should be homeless, but this year 100,000 children in Britain will wake up on Christmas morning without a place to call home.

We need a solution to the housing crisis.

Will you ask George Osborne to help prevent more families facing Christmas like this by building the affordable homes we so desperately need?

Use your postcode at this link to see how many homeless people are registered in your area. There are 32 in mine and 25 are families with children.

That is followed by some housing information for where I live;

It’s getting tough to afford a home – in Kingston upon Hull, house prices have risen by £168,469 since 1969.

In fact, they’ve gone up 0% in the last three years alone [remember Hull is a northern town where house prices have stalled]

Rent has gone up as well – by 1% in the same period.

Higher house prices mean more people have to turn to renting – so rents go up too.

There just aren’t enough affordable homes. In 2014, only 200 were built in Kingston upon Hull.Does that sound like enough to you?

It was tough getting somewhere to live when we married in 1972 but there were many cheap to rent old properties available.

If you live in other parts of the U.K. expect to see shocking statistics for your area.

You can sign the petition by following this link.

There is no quick and easy fix for those facing homelessness this Christmas so Shelter are also asking for donations if you are able.

Related reading:
British homelessness 2014 campaign
Tax avoiding HSBC and anti homeless spikes [these were later removed]