The Right Reverend James Langstaff, Bishop of Rochester is supporting the 2015 “Homes for Britain” campaign which brings the entire UK housing sector together for the first time, in the run up to the General Election. Urging the next government to draw up a long-term plan within a year of taking office, the campaign is asking for an outline of how the new government plans to end the housing crisis. Politicians are being urged to end the UK housing crisis within a generation.

Bishop James said, “A planned, sustainable approach to home building is central to the well-being of civil society and the economy.   In 2014, house-building in England hovered below the 125,000 mark for the sixth year in a row; the lowest peacetime levels since the 1920s.The lack of housing which is sufficient, affordable and suitable affects communities across the country, from villages to city centres.  The impact is especially marked for those who are the poorest and most vulnerable in our society, but it extends to all sectors of the population.  If we rise to the challenge to meet housing need, then addressing other social and economic issues becomes much more possible.”

Bishop James will be one of those addressing over 2,500 people at the rally chaired by Jonathan Dimbleby at the Methodist Central Hall, London on 17 March 2015; the aim is to encourage and challenge all political parties to commit to end the UK’s housing crisis.