Labour Launches London Housing Group

The Labour Party will launch a new group to campaign for changes to housing policy in London. The Labour London Housing Group is supported by mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone and Karen Buck, Westminster North MP, and will be launched at a House of Commons event on Wednesday 26 January. Steve Hilditch, a housing consultant who has helped set the group up, said: ‘This will be a mechanism for Labour Party members to campaign about housing issues in London, there are lots of people who are struggling to keep up with the enormity of the changes to housing policy.’ The group will come up with policy ideas ahead of next year’s mayoral campaign. Its focus will not be limited to social housing, looking at the policies and economics of house building and provision across all tenures. The Labour Party has had a national housing group since 1981, but this is the first time it has had a forum focusing specifically on the capital.