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When the government talks about infrastructure contributing to the economy the focus is usually on roads, railways, broadband and energy.
當政府談到基礎設施對經(jīng)濟增長的貢獻時，注意力一般都集中在公路、鐵路、寬帶和能源上。
Housing is seldom mentioned. Why is that?
卻很少提到住房。怎么會這樣？
To some extent the housing sector must shoulder the blame.
在某種程度上，住房部門必須承擔這一責任。
We have not been good at communicating the real value that housing can contribute to economic growth.
我們一直不擅長表明住房對經(jīng)濟增長所貢獻的真正價值。
Then there is the scale of the typical housing project.
而且，典型住房工程都有規(guī)模。
It is hard to shove for attention among multibillion-pound infrastructure project, so it is inevitable that the attention is focused elsewhere.
在各種數(shù)十億英鎊的基礎設施工程中，住房工程很難引起注意，所以注意力就難免會集中在其他工程上。
But perhaps the most significant reason is that the issue has always been so politically charged.
但是，或許最大的原因在于這一問題一直過于受到政治的掌控。
Nevertheless, the affordable housing situation is desperate.
盡管如此，經(jīng)濟適用房的形勢非常危急。
Waiting lists increase all the time and we are simply not building enough new homes.
等著分房的名單數(shù)一直在增加，而且新蓋的房屋數(shù)量又完全不夠。
The comprehensive spending review offers an opportunity for the government to help rectify this.
所以，全面的支出評估報告為政府整頓這一局面提供了機會。
It needs to put historical prejudices to one side and take some steps to address our urgent housing need.
政府應撇開歷史上的偏見，并采取相應措施來解決迫切的住房需求。
There are some indications that it is preparing to do just that.
有跡象表明政府正著手準備去那樣做。
The communities minister, Don Foster, has hinted that George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer,
社區(qū)部長鄧恩·福斯特暗示，財政大臣喬治·奧斯本
may introduce more flexibility to the current cap on the amount that local authorities can borrow against their housing stock debt.
可能會放寬貸款上限，當?shù)卣畷眠@筆貸款抵消住房債務。”。
Evidence shows that 60,000 extra new homes could be built over the next five years if the cap were lifted, increasing GDP by 0.6%.
有證據(jù)表明，如果提高上限，今后五年里會多蓋60,000套新房，并使GDP增長0.6個百分點。
Ministers should also look at creating greater certainty in the rental environment,
各部長也應該為租房環(huán)境創(chuàng)造更大的確定性，
which would have a significant impact on the ability of registered providers to fund new developments from revenues.
這樣會對注冊供應商從收入中撥出資金來進行新的開發(fā)產(chǎn)生重大的影響。
But it is not just down to the government.
但是這不應該只由政府負責。
While these measures would be welcome in the short term, we must face up to the fact
雖然這些措施短期內(nèi)會受到歡迎，但我們一定要正視現(xiàn)實：
that the existing 4.5bn pounds programme of grants to fund new affordable housing, set to expire in 2015, is unlikely to be extended beyond then.
當前為新的經(jīng)濟適用房提供資金的45億英鎊資助計劃于2015年到期，到時不可能得到延長。
The Labour party has recently announced that it will retain a large part of the coalition's spending plans if returns to power.
勞動黨最近宣布，如果重新掌權(quán)，他們將保留大部分的聯(lián)合支出計劃。
The housing sector needs to accept that we are very unlikely to ever return to era of large-scale public grants.
大規(guī)模的公共資助時代已經(jīng)一去不復返，住房部門需要接受這一事實。
We need to adjust to this changing climate.
我們需要作出調(diào)整來適應多變的環(huán)境。
