UK election: Cost of living and chronic housing shortage on voters’ minds

More than 1.2 million families are on a waiting list for social housing in England alone.

Transcript

00:00Kensington and Bayswater is one of the most marginal seats in the United Kingdom, with

00:05just 150 votes separating the Conservatives from Labour in the last election. It's also

00:11one of the most socially divided seats in the country. In the south, upscale mansions

00:16line streets among the most expensive in the world, walk northwards and you'll find overcrowded

00:22housing estates. As the UK prepares to head to the polls, voters living locally say the

00:28next government must tackle the cost of living crisis and chronic housing shortage.

00:33I'd do something about the housing shortage. There are more people sleeping rough too at

00:38the moment.

00:39We need more, build more homes, we need better transport, we need to actually build things

00:44and grow the economy again.

00:46A lot of people have been deprived of, you know, lots of things. There have never been

00:51more people homeless in the street and I think no one is paying attention to it.

00:57Both Labour's Keir Starmer and Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are pledging to

01:01build around 1.5 million homes in the next mandate, with Labour placing a strong emphasis

01:06on social housing. But questions remain around the financial viability of their plans as

01:11the economy shows signs of recovery after a short-lived recession last year. Economists

01:17say regardless of who will have the keys to 10 Downing Street, tough decisions have to

01:21be made to tackle a high deficit and a continuously bleak economic forecast. In Kensington, residents

01:28want politicians to come clean on the state of the economy.

01:32Tell the truth and just be honest with the people. You know, we haven't got any money

01:37anymore and we need change.

01:40People living in the richest parts of this constituency of Kensington and Bayswater earn

01:46twice as much and are expected to live up to 17 years longer than those people living

01:52in the poorest parts. These extremes of wealth and poverty epitomise a broader national problem

01:59in the run-up to this election. Across the country, people simply feel they've been left

02:04alone to deal with a crippling cost-of-living crisis. And people in London tell me that

02:10they've simply lost faith in politicians' ability to bring their bills down and that

02:16the next government, whichever political colour it may be, has its work cut out to restore

02:22that broken trust.

02:24Marit Gwynne for Euronews in Kensington.