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Labour housing plans could destroy 215,000 hectares of nature in England, analysis shows (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 4 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I said it's a start, not the whole answer to the housing problem.

Also, just as examples:

Long-term empty homes To be classed as ‘long-term empty’ a home has to be liable for council tax and to have been unfurnished and not lived in for over 6 months. This figure is increasing all the time, but as at October 2023, it was 261,189.

Holiday lets These are an extension of second homes - homes not used as primary residences but used to make profit for their owners, short-let for several weeks or months of each year, blocking them from becoming anybody’s home. In many cases owners ‘flip’ to business rates which are often cheaper than paying council tax. As at March 2024, there were believed to be at least 85,000 of these such dwellings, flipped to business rates.

https://www.actiononemptyhomes.org/facts-and-figures

I'm not against building more homes. We need more council homes for sure. Housing should be seen as a human need, not a commodity to trade.