I know too many families struggle living in severely overcrowded accommodation. Already children are forced to share beds with parents and some vulnerable families are crammed into single flats with other families. Many live in a single-room hostels. The closure of schools, self-isolation, and family quarantine will make an already unbearable situation impossible.  

A new Housing Market Package will help relieve some of the pressure in our overstretched housing sector. It would let Government, via housing associations and local authorities, buy up empty homes to reduce the increased health risks of homeless and overcrowded families during the Covid-19 emergency.

The model is tested, and the housing sector could quickly come up with a plan for how to deliver this.

Many local families are in desperate situations. And at the same time homes are standing empty. This is never right but now there is huge moral and public health reason to act.