Labour’s prospective MP challenges Cornwall Council to meet the need for affordable local homes.

On the day that Cornwall Council appointed its new portfolio holders for Housing and Planning, Charlotte MacKenzie asked Councillor Mark Kaczmarek and Councillor Graeme Hicks to meet her to discuss how the new Council will meet the need for local affordable housing.

Hundreds of people have signed Labour’s petition (on and offline) to meet the need for local affordable homes. The petition will go to Cornwall Council.

Following the meeting on Monday 29 June, Charlotte MacKenzie said:

‘We had a good discussion in which I pressed the new portfolio holders on the need for positive action by Cornwall Council to deliver more affordable homes despite the challenging context.

‘It’s vital that more homes are made available for the 18,000 households on waiting lists in Cornwall. The Council is already committed to completing over 2000 homes each year up to 2011, it will take positive leadership to make that happen in the present climate, and with Government backing more could be achieved.

‘I’m delighted for everyone who is waiting for a new home in Cornwall that on Monday the Government announced it is increasing investment in housing. So that more new homes are completed and more jobs are created in the construction industry.

‘Cornwall Council is a major landowner. The challenge to the new Council is to bid for funding, build, release their land, give go ahead to planning permissions, and adjust allocations policy to meet local needs for affordable homes.

‘Cornwall Council has said it wants to provide more strategic leadership locally. This is their opportunity to make a real difference for people with local housing needs.’

For more information contact Charlotte MacKenzie 01872 261675.

Notes

1. The £1.5 billion housing investment outlined in Building Britain’s Future includes:

o Extra funding for councils and housing associations – to build around 15,500 new affordable homes, of which over 11,000 will be available for social rental and the rest will be affordable housing. More may be built if greater value for money can be achieved.

o Extending the Kickstart programme – to get stalled housing sites back on track, with the aim of delivering an additional 13,000 homes, of which 4,000 will be affordable.

o Investing in the development of public sector land – owned by the HCA, local councils and other public sector bodies to deliver up to 1,250 units of which 500 could be affordable.

On top of the Government’s existing housing commitments and recent announcements in the Budget, the new investment will deliver an additional 20,000 new affordable energy efficient homes over the next two years. 45,000 new jobs will be created in the construction and related industries to build the extra new homes.

2. The investment will be matched with reforms that deliver value for money and recognise rights and responsibilities for those in social housing. While preserving security of tenure, reforms will include:

o Changing the current rules for allocating social housing – not changing those previously required for people in serious housing need (the ‘reasonable preference’ categories) but by enabling councils to manage better local pressures on their waiting lists, and to give more preferences to those who have spent a long time on a waiting list.

o Expanding Choice Based Lettings – to help residents to move nationwide, and support to tenants who need to move to take up the offer of a new job.

o Clamping down on sub-lettings fraud – freeing up more homes for those in need. o Reforming the council house finance system – to allow councils to keep all the proceeds from their own council house sales and council rents.

3. Housing and Planning Minister John Healey MP confirmed that the Government wants local Councils to act. He said: “Together these announcements signal my intention to get local authorities involved in delivering more housing that their local area needs. Councils haven’t built significant numbers of housing for a long time, but with this extra cash and an overhaul of the council house funding system I am giving councils the green light to start building more homes in their area. And we are putting our money where our mouth is to fund new Housing Association developments, get mothballed housing projects back on track, and free up public land for more affordable homes.”

Photo: Charlotte MacKenzie with John Healey MP at County Hall in July 2008.