Labour’s action on housing doesn’t match its rhetoric

On the face of it, it’s a simple equation. In the north-London borough of Islington, there are almost 9,000 people on the housing waiting list. The area needs more homes. A Conservative-led Government cuts red-tape, making it possible to convert empty and redundant office space into new homes without planning permission. Local council chiefs ought to welcome this – recognising this will help address their local housing shortage.

But not so in Labour-run Islington, where the Council is instead threatening legal action against the Government for freeing up much-needed homes in this way. For the second time since the legislation was introduced in May 2013, the council is intent on using taxpayers’ money to challenge it. In February they tried and failed to get it banned altogether.

All this fuss from a Labour council whose leader made housing a ‘key priority’ that he said Labour would address. A cynic might call it political posturing.