THE LEADER of the Labour Party visited the new MP for Reading East and the town's largest homeless charity today. 

At 12pm Jeremy Corbyn arrived at Launchpad along with Matt Rodda, who recently took Rob Wilson's seat for Labour.

Mr Corbyn met with a group of firefighters and the staff of Shed cafe before entering the charity's Merchant Place offices with CEO Ian Caren.

After touring the building and meeting with some of the people Launchpad provides accommodation and support to, the Islington North MP spoke about homelessness in Reading.

"The root cause of homelessness in places like Reading is expensive private sector houses," he said.

"Ultimately the answer is investment in council housing, but it is also giving local authorities the power to convert former industrial properties and office properties into social housing."

Mr Corbyn also spoke about Mr Rodda's victory in June's General Election, in which he toppled Mr Wilson with a dramatic 16 per cent vote share swing.

He continued: "I'm very proud of Matt Rodda. Matt did a great job and is a great MP.

"To win seats like Reading West we will continue to campaign on issues such as investment, transport and housing."

Before Mr Corbyn rushed away to meet a family in Alok Sharma's constituency, Mr Rodda expanded on the homeless topic.

"It's the lack of affordable housing. We need a more thought through approach and better support for charities like Launchpad," he said.

"Families are being priced out. Landlords raise prices and the families that were there can no longer afford rent. That's a huge problem.

"We want to build more affordable housing. We want more council housing. We want to build 1,000 council houses.

"Launchpad does amazing work in terms of getting people back on their feet."

Mr Corbyn had also managed to have a brief chat with Abbie Johnson, sandwich crafter at Shed.

"I wanted him to eat the Meat Free Monday," Labour voter Miss Johnson explained, referring to their Middle Eastern breakfast dish.

"It's the best in the world."