Construction union UCATT has described plans by Housing Minister Grant Shapps to encourage elderly people to move to smaller properties and their home would then be let to families, as "fiddling" with the country's growing housing crisis.

Under Shapps' plans councils would act as brokers to encourage elderly people to move into smaller properties. The council would then be responsible for letting the property to a family at an affordable rent and transferring any profit back to the elderly person or their estate.

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There are currently 1.7 million people on housing waiting lists. Last year in England only 24,070 new social homes were completed. The number of future developments is set to decline further due to the Government’s decision to reduce the social house building budget by 70% by 2015.

Steve Murphy, General Secretary of UCATT, said: "This is a classic case of fiddling by the Conservatives. It in no way addresses the growing housing crisis which is affecting the country. Thousands of families are having their life chances diminished because of a lack of decent social housing at rents they can afford. The solution is to invest in new social housing not downsize the elderly."

As well as building a far higher number of social houses UCATT are calling on the Government and local authorities to investigate ways they can take over vacant properties, invest in them and then to let these out to people on their housing waiting lists. There are currently 720,416 vacant dwellings in England.

(CD/GK)