There has been a ground breaking housing policy development that Red Brick readers may just have missed. It’s the government’s Houseboat Strategy.
In genuinely out of the box, beyond the blue-sky thinking, the government plans to help more people live on boats.
In a new bout of press release-based policy making Grant Shapps has said that:
“new moorings could be eligible for the New Homes Bonus, which sees the government match council tax from new-build homes.”
Erm, so maybe not quite helping people live on boats, but saying that the government is considering something that’s just about interesting enough to be covered in the news.
British Waterways cut to the real heart of the issue and were “pleased to note the reassurance from Mr Shapps’ department that people can qualify for housing benefit for help with mooring fees.”
You’ve got to give it to Mr Shapps as a tactical politician: no band-wagon goes by unleapt on and every eye-catching line gets a policy thrown together behind it.
But surely someone in DCLG, No10, Cabinet Office, CCHQ must be concerned that at some stage the total lack of interest in any type of strategy, plan or vision may cause them a problem?
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