Tameside Independent
Local News, National Implications
INVESTIGATION | Published July 25, 2025
Anatomy of an Evasion: A Timeline of the Tameside Housing Crisis Investigation
How a local story about a housing shortage became a national story of data discrepancies and government silence, addressed to The Rt Hon Angela Rayner MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing.
For weeks, the Tameside Independent has been investigating the catastrophic shortage of social housing in Ashton-under-Lyne. This is not just a local issue; it’s happening in the constituency of the very person in charge of the nation’s housing, Angela Rayner. Our investigation has uncovered a stark reality of systemic failure, a massive discrepancy in official data, and a pattern of evasion from the highest levels of government.
This is the full story, as it happened.
June 22nd: The First Enquiry & The Wall of Silence
Initial press enquiry sent to the official government press office.
We began by asking simple questions to the government and major housing providers about the lack of new social housing in Tameside. Our investigation confirmed:
- Jigsaw Homes Group are building just 56 homes for social rent, against a waiting list they confirmed to us was over 7,000 people.
- Onward Homes confirmed their funding was used solely for retrofitting, with no new social housing planned.
- Three other major housing providers and the GMCA met our questions with silence.
Result: Our formal press enquiry to the government was ignored.
July 20th: The Public Escalation
After being ignored, we published our findings in an Open Letter to Angela Rayner.
With no official response, we took our investigation public. The letter detailed the 7,000-person waiting list versus the 56 planned homes and put three direct questions to the Secretary of State.
- How does 56 homes address a waiting list of 7,000?
- What action will be taken to reform failing funding models?
- When will you provide a substantive response to your constituents?
Result: The investigation gained significant public attention. The Cabinet Office acknowledged the letter on July 21st, passing it to Ms. Rayner’s department.
July 24th: The Official Response & The 6,000-Person Discrepancy
The government press office provides a statement.
EXCLUSIVE: Government Understates Tameside Housing Waitlist by 6,000 People
The government’s formal response contained generic national talking points and cited a Tameside housing waiting list figure of just 1,005 households.
This is a number we know to be false. It ignores thousands registered with housing associations and represents a discrepancy of nearly 6,000 people, effectively downplaying the crisis in the Deputy Prime Minister’s own constituency by 85%.
An MHCLG spokesperson said:
“This government is taking decisive action… Through our Plan for Change we will deliver 1.5 million homes… We also announced a £16bn national housing bank…”
Result: The response answered none of our specific questions and provided demonstrably flawed data.
July 25th: The Deadline Passes
We put the 6,000-person data discrepancy to the press office and set a final deadline.
CONCLUSION: Urgent When Correcting a Story, Silent When Correcting Their Facts.
The press office was quick to demand we update our story to note they had ‘responded’, even offering an excuse that our first email went to the wrong address (it didn’t). Yet, when we asked them to explain the huge discrepancy in their own data, they fell silent.
The deadline has now passed. We have received no further response.
Have they answered the questions we asked on behalf of the 7,000 households waiting for a home in Tameside? No. They have effectively ignored them. The investigation continues.