![](https://www.thepavement.org.uk/media/thePavement.png)
Established 2005 Registered Charity No. 1110656
Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760
DONATE
Please help us to help more homeless people by setting up a monthly direct debit.
the Pavement relies on donations and volunteering from individuals and companies...
MORE ON DONATING
RECENT TWEETS
The UK‘s best known newt-fancier believes the only way to end the housing shortage is to build more homes and disagrees with move-ons
The Pavement's printers were stalled for Ken Livingstone, but we were not the only people waiting to speak to him.
In a bright church hall in Enfield the plates of chocolate digestives were ignored as the press jostled with members of the public for their five minutes with the Mayor. But before the half a dozen old ladies, their cheeks flushed pink in the April breeze, could be heard Mr Livingstone moved his beige mac and satchel off an armchair and invited The Pavement to speak to him first.
"Thanks for coming all this way to see me," he smiled, and for a moment, we were charmed sufficiently to forget we had been waiting for this interview for weeks. Perhaps this action reflected the fact that the Mayor of London has placed the provision of housing high on his election agenda. And as a man whose political career began in the housing offices for Camden Council, Mr Livingstone has big opinions on this topic.
"When I think back to the 1960s and 70s, there was limited homelessness in this city," he began. "At this time Labour had invested massively in housing, and it reached a climax in Camden when we had 2000 new lets each year. People could look at six or seven properties and choose where they really wanted to be housed." But when the Conservative government came to power in 1979 Mr Livingstone believes stable housing in London took a serious turn. "Thatcher's decision to more or less stop London councils from building any more homes has affected everyone."
Mr Livingstone's answer to the current problem is simple; "The only way to end the housing shortage is to build more homes." The British government have pledged £4bn to the national affordable housing scheme for 2008 to 2011 and the Mayor intends to use London's portion of this money to build 50,000 affordable homes in the capital.
"We have not seen anything like this kind of investment since 1979, today there is real money for a major housing problem," he enthused. But his plan for housing in London is not homeless-centric. He believes that in order to help those who have fallen off the property ladder you need to help everybody else up a few rungs. There are 150,000 families living in over-crowded conditions in the city and around 60,000 families in temporary accommodation. If re-elected Mr Livingstone has pledged that 50 per cent of new builds will be cheaper to buy or rent. "Boris Johnson said he would abolish the 50 per cent rule, and if this is allowed to happen very few homes in London will be affordable," he warned. "It is not just the homeless who need somewhere to live, but if we cannot help other groups they will be pushed even further down the ladder."
With this in mind, The Pavement was curious to know whether Mr Livingstone thought that the Homeless Link pledge to end homelessness in the capital by 2012 was an achievable target. He did not hesitate: "I think it is a realistic pledge. There is a real range of options for homeless people now, some could go straight into smaller flats where as others need to go into sheltered accommodation to deal with their needs."
Although he did not voice his opinion at last year's Council meeting to discuss Conservative proposals to abolish soup runs he hinted at his dislike to these kind of measures: "Councils like Westminster, who have taken to moving people on should not be allowed to do that," he said frankly. "We need to work with these people, to get them into training and slowly ease them off the streets." When asked how he would do this he lowered his eyes. "We would have to use the miniscule amount left out of that £4bn to make sure they are supported."
Mr Livingstone is an advocate of multicultural London and he was aware of another controversy affecting the homeless community in the city; the influx of migrant workers who find themselves on the streets. He told The Pavement how he had visited Brian Haw's peace camp recently, and met six Polish workers who could not find anywhere to sleep, and he believed that services should be in place to support them too. "When you look at social problems in a city like this you should not think on a borough by borough basis, you need to look to different communities and tackle their specific needs," he explained, and pulling the interview full circle he added: "We want to create housing to suit all."
Our time was up. Mr Livingstone would be ushered to the next member of the press before being thrown to the mercy of the old ladies' questions. He is a Londoner who understands the housing issue inside out, and who clearly has confidence in his plan to tackle it. But we will have to wait until 1st May to see whether his plan will be implemented.
In a bright church hall in Enfield the plates of chocolate digestives were ignored as the press jostled with members of the public for their five minutes with the Mayor. But before the half a dozen old ladies, their cheeks flushed pink in the April breeze, could be heard Mr Livingstone moved his beige mac and satchel off an armchair and invited The Pavement to speak to him first.
"Thanks for coming all this way to see me," he smiled, and for a moment, we were charmed sufficiently to forget we had been waiting for this interview for weeks. Perhaps this action reflected the fact that the Mayor of London has placed the provision of housing high on his election agenda. And as a man whose political career began in the housing offices for Camden Council, Mr Livingstone has big opinions on this topic.
"When I think back to the 1960s and 70s, there was limited homelessness in this city," he began. "At this time Labour had invested massively in housing, and it reached a climax in Camden when we had 2000 new lets each year. People could look at six or seven properties and choose where they really wanted to be housed." But when the Conservative government came to power in 1979 Mr Livingstone believes stable housing in London took a serious turn. "Thatcher's decision to more or less stop London councils from building any more homes has affected everyone."
Mr Livingstone's answer to the current problem is simple; "The only way to end the housing shortage is to build more homes." The British government have pledged £4bn to the national affordable housing scheme for 2008 to 2011 and the Mayor intends to use London's portion of this money to build 50,000 affordable homes in the capital.
"We have not seen anything like this kind of investment since 1979, today there is real money for a major housing problem," he enthused. But his plan for housing in London is not homeless-centric. He believes that in order to help those who have fallen off the property ladder you need to help everybody else up a few rungs. There are 150,000 families living in over-crowded conditions in the city and around 60,000 families in temporary accommodation. If re-elected Mr Livingstone has pledged that 50 per cent of new builds will be cheaper to buy or rent. "Boris Johnson said he would abolish the 50 per cent rule, and if this is allowed to happen very few homes in London will be affordable," he warned. "It is not just the homeless who need somewhere to live, but if we cannot help other groups they will be pushed even further down the ladder."
With this in mind, The Pavement was curious to know whether Mr Livingstone thought that the Homeless Link pledge to end homelessness in the capital by 2012 was an achievable target. He did not hesitate: "I think it is a realistic pledge. There is a real range of options for homeless people now, some could go straight into smaller flats where as others need to go into sheltered accommodation to deal with their needs."
Although he did not voice his opinion at last year's Council meeting to discuss Conservative proposals to abolish soup runs he hinted at his dislike to these kind of measures: "Councils like Westminster, who have taken to moving people on should not be allowed to do that," he said frankly. "We need to work with these people, to get them into training and slowly ease them off the streets." When asked how he would do this he lowered his eyes. "We would have to use the miniscule amount left out of that £4bn to make sure they are supported."
Mr Livingstone is an advocate of multicultural London and he was aware of another controversy affecting the homeless community in the city; the influx of migrant workers who find themselves on the streets. He told The Pavement how he had visited Brian Haw's peace camp recently, and met six Polish workers who could not find anywhere to sleep, and he believed that services should be in place to support them too. "When you look at social problems in a city like this you should not think on a borough by borough basis, you need to look to different communities and tackle their specific needs," he explained, and pulling the interview full circle he added: "We want to create housing to suit all."
Our time was up. Mr Livingstone would be ushered to the next member of the press before being thrown to the mercy of the old ladies' questions. He is a Londoner who understands the housing issue inside out, and who clearly has confidence in his plan to tackle it. But we will have to wait until 1st May to see whether his plan will be implemented.
June – July 2024 : Reflections
CONTENTS
BACK ISSUES
- Issue 150 : June – July 2024 : Reflections
- Issue 149 : April – May 2024 : Compassion
- Issue 148 : February – March 2024 : The little things
- Issue 147 : December 2023 – January 2024 : Next steps
- Issue 146 : October 2023 – November 2023 : Kind acts
- Issue 145 : August 2023 – September 2023 : Mental health
- Issue 144 : June 2023 – July 2023 : Community
- Issue 143 : April 2023 - May 2023 : Hope springs
- Issue 142 : February 2023 - March 2023 : New Beginnings
- Issue 141 : December 2022 - January 2023 : Winter Homeless
- Issue 140 : October - November 2022 : Resolve
- Issue 139 : August - September 2022 : Creativity
- Issue 138 : June - July 2022 : Practical advice
- Issue 137 : April - May 2022 : Connection
- Issue 136 : February - March 2022 : RESPECT
- Issue 135 : Dec 2021 - Jan 2022 : OPPORTUNITY
- Issue 134 : September-October 2021 : Losses and gains
- Issue 133 : July-August 2021 : Know Your Rights
- Issue 132 : May-June 2021 : Access to Healthcare
- Issue 131 : Mar-Apr 2021 : SOLUTIONS
- Issue 130 : Jan-Feb 2021 : CHANGE
- Issue 129 : Nov-Dec 2020 : UNBELIEVABLE
- Issue 128 : Sep-Oct 2020 : COPING
- Issue 127 : Jul-Aug 2020 : HOPE
- Issue 126 : Health & Wellbeing in a Crisis
- Issue 125 : Mar-Apr 2020 : MOVING ON
- Issue 124 : Jan-Feb 2020 : STREET FOOD
- Issue 123 : Nov-Dec 2019 : HOSTELS
- Issue 122 : Sep 2019 : DEATH ON THE STREETS
- Issue 121 : July-Aug 2019 : INVISIBLE YOUTH
- Issue 120 : May-June 2019 : RECOVERY
- Issue 119 : Mar-Apr 2019 : WELLBEING
- Issue 118 : Jan-Feb 2019 : WORKING HOMELESS
- Issue 117 : Nov-Dec 2018 : HER STORY
- Issue 116 : Sept-Oct 2018 : TOILET TALK
- Issue 115 : July-Aug 2018 : HIDDEN HOMELESS
- Issue 114 : May-Jun 2018 : REBUILD YOUR LIFE
- Issue 113 : Mar–Apr 2018 : REMEMBRANCE
- Issue 112 : Jan-Feb 2018
- Issue 111 : Nov-Dec 2017
- Issue 110 : Sept-Oct 2017
- Issue 109 : July-Aug 2017
- Issue 108 : Apr-May 2017
- Issue 107 : Feb-Mar 2017
- Issue 106 : Dec 2016 - Jan 2017
- Issue 105 : Oct-Nov 2016
- Issue 104 : Aug-Sept 2016
- Issue 103 : May-June 2016
- Issue 102 : Mar-Apr 2016
- Issue 101 : Jan-Feb 2016
- Issue 100 : Nov-Dec 2015
- Issue 99 : Sept-Oct 2015
- Issue 98 : July-Aug 2015
- Issue 97 : May-Jun 2015
- Issue 96 : April 2015 [Mini Issue]
- Issue 95 : March 2015
- Issue 94 : February 2015
- Issue 93 : December 2014
- Issue 92 : November 2014
- Issue 91 : October 2014
- Issue 90 : September 2014
- Issue 89 : July 2014
- Issue 88 : June 2014
- Issue 87 : May 2014
- Issue 86 : April 2014
- Issue 85 : March 2014
- Issue 84 : February 2014
- Issue 83 : December 2013
- Issue 82 : November 2013
- Issue 81 : October 2013
- Issue 80 : September 2013
- Issue 79 : June 2013
- Issue 78 : 78
- Issue 77 : 77
- Issue 76 : 76
- Issue 75 : 75
- Issue 74 : 74
- Issue 73 : 73
- Issue 72 : 72
- Issue 71 : 71
- Issue 70 : 70
- Issue 69 : 69
- Issue 68 : 68
- Issue 67 : 67
- Issue 66 : 66
- Issue 65 : 65
- Issue 64 : 64
- Issue 63 : 63
- Issue 62 : 62
- Issue 61 : 61
- Issue 60 : 60
- Issue 59 : 59
- Issue 58 : 58
- Issue 57 : 57
- Issue 56 : 56
- Issue 56 : 56
- Issue 55 : 55
- Issue 54 : 54
- Issue 53 : 53
- Issue 52 : 52
- Issue 51 : 51
- Issue 50 : 50
- Issue 49 : 49
- Issue 48 : 48
- Issue 47 : 47
- Issue 46 : 46
- Issue 45 : 45
- Issue 44 : 44
- Issue 43 : 43
- Issue 42 : 42
- Issue 5 : 05
- Issue 4 : 04
- Issue 2 : 02
- Issue 1 : 01
- Issue 41 : 41
- Issue 40 : 40
- Issue 39 : 39
- Issue 38 : 38
- Issue 37 : 37
- Issue 36 : 36
- Issue 35 : 35
- Issue 34 : 34
- Issue 33 : 33
- Issue 10 : 10
- Issue 9 : 09
- Issue 6 : 06
- Issue 3 : 03
- Issue 32 : 32
- Issue 31 : 31
- Issue 30 : 30
- Issue 29 : 29
- Issue 11 : 11
- Issue 12 : 12
- Issue 13 : 13
- Issue 14 : 14
- Issue 15 : 15
- Issue 16 : 16
- Issue 17 : 17
- Issue 18 : 18
- Issue 19 : 19
- Issue 20 : 20
- Issue 21 : 21
- Issue 22 : 22
- Issue 23 : 23
- Issue 24 : 24
- Issue 25 : 25
- Issue 8 : 08
- Issue 7 : 07
- Issue 26 : 26
- Issue 27 : 27
- Issue 28 : 28
- Issue 1 : 01