In this week's column, Warrington South MP Faisal Rashid discusses the housing crisis.

You may recall I have used this column before to talk about homelessness and I, and my Labour Party colleagues, have repeatedly called on the Government to act to solve this crisis.

But it is clearer than ever that we are being ignored.

Last month, the Government published its long-awaited social housing green paper.

In the wake of the devastating Grenfell Tower fire, Sajid Javid – then Communities Secretary – promised a green paper that would be 'the most substantial report of its kind for a generation'.

What the Government have instead delivered is nothing short of an insult.

There is not a single extra penny committed to building new, affordable, homes, and ministers have been forced to admit that this paper will not lead to the construction of a single new affordable homes.

The long-awaited green paper is stuffed full of warm words that are devoid of any substance.

There are 1.2 million people on the social housing waiting list in this country.

They do not want warm words, they want warm homes that they can afford to live in.

And the situation is no different in Warrington.

My caseworkers have been contacted by many individuals, and families, across my constituency who are struggling to find affordable housing.

To give this some context, during 2016/17 there were 1,100 families that bid for just 130 two-bedroomed properties through the Chooseahome scheme.

This is totally unacceptable. There must be more affordable homes available.

In response to the council’s housing consultation earlier this year, I sought to secure a combined target of 30 per cent for all new homes which are built in the town to be affordable.

But without central Government funding commitments, councils are severely restricted in what they can do to tackle this crisis.

The last Labour Government had a proud record in our area.

Between 1997 and 2010, the number of home-owning households increased by one million, almost two million homes were built, and in the final years of Government, Labour launched the biggest social and council house-building programme in a generation.

In Labour’s own social housing green paper, published last April, we set out a long-term plan to build a million new genuinely affordable homes over 10 years.

The biggest council house-building programme in more than 30 years.

A radical approach like this is no longer an option, it is a necessity.

If we do not act now, this crisis will continue for generations.