After the housing bubble

Over 98,000 households in need of housing, a rise in the number of people becoming homeless and a shortage in emergency homeless accommodation are just some of the concerns addressed in the December issue of Working Notes, ‘After the Housing Bubble’, Journal of the JCFJ. Highlighted also is the growing numbers of what Michael Punch refers to as ‘the housing vulnerable’- families and individuals in mortgage debt, on the social housing waiting list, on low incomes in poor quality private rented accommodation and the homeless. What of the solutions? Punch argues that there needs to be an ideological shift and greater social provision. Peter McVerry SJ calls for improved conditions in emergency accommodation and  both authors call for adequate housing to uphold the right of people to live their lives with dignity and hope.