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Housing Minister Reacts To Homeless Caller's Heartbreaking Living Conditions
10 June 2018, 12:51 | Updated: 10 June 2018, 16:15
The minister for housing said that more needs to be done for people like Giorgio, a homeless man who turned to his van for accommodation.
The housing minister Dominic Raab told Tom Swarbrick that fixing problems with social housing is a "team effort" with local authorities, and that more needs to be done.
His comments come straight after Tom played the Tory minister a clip from an interview with Giorgio, a man who now lives in a van after losing his home.
Giorgio told Tom that living in the van was difficult during winter months, when it was damp and cold.
"I still live with an illness now, I can manage it but as I get older I have no idea what I'm going to," he said.
"Sometimes I fear that living in the van, what if I just die?
"How many days is it going to be before anyone knows I'm still stuck in there - probably a traffic warden trying to give me a ticket."
Dominic Raab responded to the clip saying that Giorgio "sounded like a really proud man" and that his heart goes out to him.
"The lack of a roof over your head is often a symptom, rather than an underlying cause," he said.
"It's true, we've got to build more homes.
"But also at the cost people can afford."
The minister confirmed that 217,000 houses were built last year, which he says was the highest number "in all but one of the last 30 years.
"But we need to do more, patricianly for those people like Giorgio."