Bish bashes government

Good Lord! Exeter bishop's not happy

The Bishop of Exeter will use his final speech in the House of Lords to tell the government to pull its socks up and sort out the housing crisis in rural and coastal areas.

The Rt. Rev’d Robert Atwell is retiring in September after nine years as Bishop of Exeter and two years in the House of Lords.

Today he will address parliament’s upper house during a debate on Monday afternoon, where he will accuse the government of falling “woefully short” of its own affordable housing targets.

He will also list second homes and Airbnb properties as among the reasons for the lack of housing for people on low incomes.

According to recent research by Middlemarch Team Devon, the amount of rental properties listed as available in the county has fallen below 700.

Devon County Council data shows that, at the current rate, it will take 32 years to clear the backlog of people waiting for social housing. 

Bishop Robert wants the government to get its act together. He also says the Church has a “significant part to play,” as highlighted in the Coming Home report by the Archbishop’s Commission on Housing. 

He will say “Without partnership and systemic change, the spiral of deprivation will become more acute. We need cross-departmental working and cross-party agreement to forge a coherent long-term strategy that will secure good housing and the flourishing of our rural and coastal communities.”