What has Labour achieved?

Steady pressure and publicity about housing, homelessness and rough sleeping has
finally galvanised the Council to:

■ agree to invest in building affordable houses on our own land, such as
under-utilised garage sites, and to buy land for the purpose
■ agree to develop a Student Housing Strategy
■ house all rough sleepers on every predicted freezing night (not just on the third
consecutive night)
■ refurbish a derelict Council building to provide an integrated centre for support
services
■ invest in a 22-bed hostel and support services for the high risk homeless who are
otherwise forced into rough sleeping
■ add a further 15 bed spaces for the homeless
What are the homelessness challenges?
■ funding for the new supported hostel arrangements beyond 2020
■ overnight shelter accommodation for rough sleepers is not available every night of
the week in winter months
■ many are ‘hidden homeless’, sofa surfing or in unsatisfactory accommodation
(1900 are on the waiting list)

What are the housing challenges?

■ not enough affordable houses locally for residents and their children
■ not enough houses at social rents for the near-homeless and low-paid residents –
only 13% of the total housing stock, mostly Council owned
■ Council owned property numbers are shrinking year-by-year, mainly thanks to
Right to Buy (40 a year)
■ few new houses at social rents have been added – only 57 a year were built in
2011-17, a third of what was ‘planned’ by the Council none of these were new
Council houses
■ the new Local Plan commits to developing 930 houses a year – of which 225
should be at social rents – but we actually need many more to catch up with the
years of neglect
■ not enough 1 and 2 bedroom units available or being built – which is 70% of
demand now and in the future
■ insufficient land in Council ownership to meet these objectives
■ some private sector tenants, including in Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs),
are left in poor living conditions by rogue landlords and feel at risk of eviction if
they complain

What will Labour do if elected?

The good news is that the Council is sitting on £50m in reserves and borrowings,
ring-fenced for new Council housing – another example of Conservative neglect and
weak financial management. It’s not only one of Labour’s top priorities to meet local
needs – it also makes sound financial sense. We will:

■ strengthen and enforce planning policy to ensure developers deliver the 40%
minimum of affordable housing in diverse communities laid out in the Local Plan
■ ensure tenants are properly protected from rogue landlords by adequate use of
inspection and enforcement powers
■ acquire land allocated in Local Plan, brownfield sites and surplus land from other
public bodies, with partners where appropriate
■ collaborate with housing associations, cooperatives and similar bodies to meet the
overall demand for social and affordable housing
■ reduce the housing waiting list by building more houses at social rents, both
Council and Housing Association, and the smaller units people need
■ build/acquire Council houses at social rents within mixed communities. Aim to
build at least 50 new units a year as part of mixed developments and replace
those lost to Right to Buy
■ require colleges, universities and private landlords to play their full role in delivering
the emerging Student Housing Strategy
■ seek long-term funding support from government or own resources, for the new
homelessness initiatives