Meeting Margaret Beckett to discuss Putney's housing concerns

Last week I got the chance to meet with the new housing minister and former Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett MP in Westminster.

Housing is my number one campaign priority in Putney; a priority made all the more urgent by our current economic environment. While the Conservatives keep piling up unsellable luxury apartment flats, I'm arguing for many more affordable homes for rent - to replace the 16,000 that have been sold off by the Tory council in the past 30 years.

Last year I met with then housing minister Caroline Flint to make sure Putney's housing priorities are heard at the heart of government - and I'm pleased to report that Margaret Beckett was as receptive to the case I presented to her as Caroline was.

The Conservatives oppose Labour's help for homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages - they would do nothing. They oppose the building of affordable housing - they would rather sell it off and price local people out of Putney. And Tory councils like Wandsworth have refused to use the powers the government has given them to step in and take over the mortgages of those who are about to lose their homes: yet more evidence that they couldn't care less about housing.