When the government talks about infrastructure contributing to the economy the focus is usually on roads, railways, broadband and energy.
当政府谈到基础设施对经济增长的贡献时，注意力一般都集中在公路、铁路、宽带和能源上。
Housing is seldom mentioned. Why is that?
却很少提到住房。怎么会这样？
To some extent the housing sector must shoulder the blame.
在某种程度上，住房部门必须承担这一责任。
We have not been good at communicating the real value that housing can contribute to economic growth.
我们一直不擅长表明住房对经济增长所贡献的真正价值。
Then there is the scale of the typical housing project.
而且，典型住房工程都有规模。
It is hard to shove for attention among multibillion-pound infrastructure project, so it is inevitable that the attention is focused elsewhere.
在各种数十亿英镑的基础设施工程中，住房工程很难引起注意，所以注意力就难免会集中在其他工程上。
But perhaps the most significant reason is that the issue has always been so politically charged.
但是，或许最大的原因在于这一问题一直过于受到政治的掌控。
Nevertheless, the affordable housing situation is desperate.
尽管如此，经济适用房的形势非常危急。
Waiting lists increase all the time and we are simply not building enough new homes.
等着分房的名单数一直在增加，而且新盖的房屋数量又完全不够。
The comprehensive spending review offers an opportunity for the government to help rectify this.
所以，全面的支出评估报告为政府整顿这一局面提供了机会。
It needs to put historical prejudices to one side and take some steps to address our urgent housing need.
政府应撇开历史上的偏见，并采取相应措施来解决迫切的住房需求。
There are some indications that it is preparing to do just that.
有迹象表明政府正着手准备去那样做。
The communities minister, Don Foster, has hinted that George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer,
社区部长邓恩·福斯特暗示，财政大臣乔治·奥斯本
may introduce more flexibility to the current cap on the amount that local authorities can borrow against their housing stock debt.
可能会放宽贷款上限，当地政府会用这笔贷款抵消住房债务。”。
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%.
有证据表明，如果提高上限，今后五年里会多盖60,000套新房，并使GDP增长0.6个百分点。
Ministers should also look at creating greater certainty in the rental environment,
各部长也应该为租房环境创造更大的确定性，
which would have a significant impact on the ability of registered providers to fund new developments from revenues.
这样会对注册供应商从收入中拨出资金来进行新的开发产生重大的影响。
But it is not just down to the government.
但是这不应该只由政府负责。
While these measures would be welcome in the short term, we must face up to the fact
虽然这些措施短期内会受到欢迎，但我们一定要正视现实：
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.
当前为新的经济适用房提供资金的45亿英镑资助计划于2015年到期，到时不可能得到延长。
The Labour party has recently announced that it will retain a large part of the coalition's spending plans if returns to power.
劳动党最近宣布，如果重新掌权，他们将保留大部分的联合支出计划。
The housing sector needs to accept that we are very unlikely to ever return to era of large-scale public grants.
大规模的公共资助时代已经一去不复返，住房部门需要接受这一事实。
We need to adjust to this changing climate.
我们需要作出调整来适应多变的环境。
