The Housing and Planning Bill, winging its way through Parliament is proving less than popular: a series of amendments attempt to temper the worst excesses. There is a fundamental flaw in the Bill – the very policy premise upon which it is based.

In successive years, governments relied on market-driven solutions to the housing crisis, wedded to the idea of a ‘home-owning democracy'. In reality, we have people on low and middle incomes who will never be able to afford their own home and have no interest in doing so, yet we have failed to support an affordable rental sector.