I am thankful for the opportunity to once again raise the appalling housing situation as it affects my constituency and the entire eastern region.
The situation has gone from bad to worse. Over the past three years, I have raised this issue in this House on numerous occasions. I will once again outline the sequence of events. In my constituency 2,500 families are on the local authority housing list. Another 2,000 families who have an income in excess of that which would qualify them for a shared-ownership local authority loan cannot buy a house. These people, in turn, are being forced on to the local authority housing list and have no chance ever of getting a house under that regime and will not have a chance of buying a house in the foreseeable future. There are young couples who cannot marry because they cannot buy a house. They are unable to live together as a normal family. In many cases the single mother of a child must live in separate accommodation from her boyfriend or husband who, in some instances, must live with his parents.
There is now almost utter despair among people. I make a serious request to the Minister tonight to declare a housing emergency. Nothing will happen unless something serious is done. We are told there is insufficient land available. We are told that the process is too slow and that there are not sufficient planners to process applications and so on. These issues can be overcome because if the local authorities do not have the necessary wherewithal, they can hire it from outside as many authorities have done from time to time.
I point to the seriousness of what is taking place at present. Families of people who settled in the eastern region 30 years ago, the second generation, are now homeless. These people have no chance of buying a house and their options are very limited. They can move 60, 70 or 100 miles down the country. They can commute to their jobs on a daily basis or they can emigrate. These are the stark options they now have. In regard to the availability of land in this city and county and the entire eastern region, one does not have to be an expert to drive around and see the countless available sites, some of which are lying dormant and vacant for years. It is an absolute scandal that so many people have been living in such awful housing conditions and in such tremendous need for so long with so little effort being made to address their problem.
I acknowledge that my local authority and surrounding local authorities have made an effort in recent times to come up with some plans. I do not agree with the plans in some instances because they would intensify development to the extent that could well create slums 30 or 40 years down the road. However, they are three years too late because the third generation of these plans should now be coming to fruition, which is not the case. The sad fact is that the local authorities are now talking about building hostels. The only reason hostels were used was that there was nothing else available. Why not build houses? Why not give the people a reasonably decent chance to get a start in life and live a normal life? Why not provide houses and spend time coming up with emergency measures? I appeal to the Minister in this regard. I note that neither the Minister for the Environment and Local Government or the Ministers of State are present. That is no reflection on the very capable Minister sitting opposite, but particular Departments have responsibilities and their Ministers or Ministers of State should be available to come to this House for the Adjournment Debate.