MORE than 45,000 people have signed a petition calling for the cancellation of a “shameful” annual housing awards ceremony.

The UK Housing Awards by the Inside Housing and the Chartered Institute of Housing will take place on November 25 to showcase “the very best the housing sector has to offer.”

The Social Housing Action Campaign set up the change.org petition to “highlight the disconnect between the self-indulgent wealth at the top of the housing association sector, and the poverty among tenants and residents.”