Housing is critical issue of the decade, not just the election

Niamh Randall says only a firm political will by government and local authorities can tackle the spiralling housing crisis    

Housing is not only the critical issue for this election; it will be a defining issue for this decade.

Over the course of this election the housing and homeless crisis has continued to bubble away, sometimes under the surface, at other times at the forefront of the campaign. Some parties or political groupings have made it a lynchpin of their manifestos while for others the focus has, disappointingly, been more limited.