The present housing crisis requires a major national programme house building. With the population set to rise by 7 million by 2015, the need to build more affordable housing could not be more urgent.

We oppose the sell-off of any further Council homes, and call for public buildings and land to be used to create new housing through a programme of Council homes rebuilding and Housing Co-ops and Not-For-Profit housing schemes such as the excellent Sanford Road Housing Co-op in New Cross, South East London. A major home building programme would benefit the entire population.

Thousands of new homes would create thousands of long-term jobs giving a huge boost to the wider economy. More housing would also stabilise property prices, bringing down rents in the private rental sector, reducing the huge social cost of putting families in expensive B&B establishments, and go a long way to address the chronic over crowding in many homes across the UK.

Affordability: a much used word, with no clear understanding as to what it means. It should mean: What the average workers in a given area can afford to pay. Social housing must reflect local needs, be they for sheltered accommodation, student flats, disabled access or family units, large and small.

Social Housing in new developments: We do not believe it is acceptable for developers to build less than 35% affordable and social housing units, and demand that social housing units offer the same quality and finish as to the units sold off to the private sector.  After all, they pay the same amount of money in the long run, but are generally exploited by the present habit of building the cheapest option for the Social Sector.

Waiting Lists: We believe all local residents should be entitled to be on the Council Housing List with more flexibility allowing people to move to larger or smaller homes to end the huge number of under-occupied homes. More should be done to take into account family situations, such as disability and elderly parents needing care and support from relatives.

Repossessions: With 75,000 re-possessions every year, we believe that they should be made illegal where people are facing eviction due to loss of job, family breakdown and poor health. It costs us all millions of pounds to rehouse these families and causes unnecessary misery. A council run by People Before Profit would take a charge on the property and pay the mortgage direct until such time as the family was back on their feet and in a position to move forward. This would ensure these families are not filling the emergency help centres and that people can remain in their homes, ensuring family stability and having a positive impact on the environment. An empty repossessed building at a time of a national housing shortage makes no social or economic sense.

Green Deal Housing: All new developments should be fully compliant and insulated and with green energy solutions at the very heart of every development to reduce carbon dioxide levels and to reduce fuel poverty.

Accreditation: We support the aims of some council to regulate all private rental sector landlords and would support a programme of tenants' choice in how rents are paid, and strengthen their legal rights.

Squatting: We support the right of individuals to reclaim buildings abandoned or kept empty for no good reason

Stamp Duty: We support the total abolition of Stamp Duty for first time buyers on the average wage or lower. We would outlaw the practice of buying expensive property in the name of a company to avoid tax.