Housing must be priority

As autumn moves into winter and the colder weather tightens its grip, concern grows for people living in substandard housing and those who have no home at all.

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The homelessness charity Crisis is so exercised by difficulties of access to social housing that it is preparing to launch a fundraising appeal to buy its own housing stock.

This reminds us that homelessness includes not only sleeping in the streets, but people stuck in temporary accommodation such as B&Bs or hostels.

Others may have been discharged from hospitals, prisons or other institutions.

Yet many people rent from private landlords, of whom there are over two million in England alone and, where the renters are in substandard accommodation or they fear for the security of their tenure, they now have reason to be hopeful.