- guardian.co.uk, Monday 17 July 2000 18.12 BST
While the country as a whole was enjoying "unprecedented prosperity", too many people were living in poor accommodation. Years of neglect in social housing had left a £19bn repairs backlog, he said.
The government has to make a start on those repairs or tens of thousands of people will be living in collapsing concrete blocks by the end of the decade. What is needed is the creation of a department of housing and urban affairs with a minister of cabinet rank in charge.
This ministry should co-ordinate a national renewal strategy, together with local councils and builders. They should be given powers to license private landlords and prevent them exploiting housing benefit, running at £15bn annually. This could lead to savings, with more people encouraged to live in "re-branded" council and housing association properties - 110,000 of which are usually empty at any one time.
This will take a big injection of public money, even if council homes are transferred to "social companies" that can raise funds on the open market. Shelter estimated £1.4bn extra a year was needed over the next decade. Given the scale of the task, that would be money well spent.
