Thread by @JJHTweets

1/ Wanna hear my idea on solving the #HousingCrisis in the UK? Not Brexit related and needs some development but the principle I think is sound...

2/ Here ya go... At the moment the UK spends £16.7 bn a year in housing benefits.

Often this goes to pay rent in the private sector to a landlord who already has their own home and theyve taken out a second

3/ mortgage and bought a SECOND property to rent to the local council.

Homeless people or people on low incomes get housing benefit and instead of helping the person who doesnt own a home, the housing benefit

4/ goes to someone who already has a home and helps them buy a second one.

the Local Government Pension Scheme has a market value of £258 billion. and its added to with a further £7bn a year of taxpayer contributions

5/ and a further £2bn a year from council employee contributions.

Take some of this quarter of a trillion pounds and invest it in building new homes owned by the Pension scheme who like long term investments

6/ across the country and once the pension scheme has its intial return on funds back then title to the property passes to the local council and rents are kept low for social housing tenants.

by building more local social housing,

7/ you are creating local jobs and boosting local economies, as you flood the market with social housing then house prices fall in the area making it easier for youngsters to get on the housing ladder.

Win-Win-Win.

8/ Instead of thinking outside the box, the Government are putting £10 million a year to help the homeless. Every little helps, but that is an INSULT!

9/ and since its local councillors that decide how pensions are invested their political capital will increase among the electorate they are helping so the political will should be there too.

10/10 as I said it's needs some work but there's a quarter of a trillion quid waiting to be spent on PEOPLE rather than stocks and shares. #JustMyTwoPennorth