The current homelessness crisis can trace its roots back 40 years to the "right to buy" policy of the conservative Government that took council housing out of public ownership and into private hands. Subsequent governments have done nothing to reverse this trend and additionally a lot of social housing has been hived off to housing associations. Increasingly individuals and families find it hard to afford homes of a decent standard. When council housing was widely available it acted as a break on rent increases and standards were higher. Organising tenants to put pressure on landlords and government is vital, but a task made harder by the fragmentation of housing stock where neighbours will have different landlords - private, housing association and maybe even the council. Above all we need more council housing.