THE housing group Shelter called attention to the crisis in Britain's housing on Monday w':cn it started its Housing Britain — Lets Get To Work campaign.
With the help of some of the cast from the television series Auf Weidersehen, Pet, the campaign got underway in Hackney and marked the start of National Housing Week, during which Shelter hopes to raise the issues of homelessness and the poor quality of much of Britain's housing.
Shelter points out that nearly 4 million homes are officially described as substandard, and that 1.4 million people are on council waiting lists.
According to Sheila McKecknie of Shelter, the campaign hopes to "challenge the complacency of politicians and others that nothing can be done about providing people with decent homes."
The organisation claims that this year in London alone, councils will spend £50m to keep its homeless families in bed and breakfast hotels. The same sum, says shelter, would pay for 10,000 new, permanent homes.