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The future... 
I have seen the future of housing, and I believe the market does not, and cannot, work in our interest. This is something that the recent history of regeneration in Greater Manchester should tell us. Housing as lucrative investment opportunity, yes, housing that meets actual needs... not so much. The present waiting list for social housing in Greater Manchester amounts to 80000 and counting. Homelessness is visibly, utterly shamefully, growing exponentially, compounded by the utterly dishonest labelling of vulnerable, damaged people as aggressive beggars. One of those bastards is responsible for regeneration in our borough - I know, couldn't make it up etc...
Which brings me neatly to the regeneration proposals. The ones where we have plenty of input, but no control at all, with this faux mutual. The solution has to based, ultimately, in government investment in housing benefit, because the market is not going to provide us with a solution. As far as we're concerned, at Lower Falinge, I think the answer could well lie in a genuine, tenant managed housing co-operative, an alternative I intend to explore in future blogs. Bye for now...

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