The MP for Worsley and Eccles South, Barbara Keeley, has taken to Twitter to express her outrage at the PM Rishi Sunak’s plan to scrap council housing across the country.
The decision made by the PM yesterday came to a head after a group of 100 conservative backbenchers threatened to rebel against the government plans. Instead, the Government has made the 300,000 new homes scheme “advisory” for local councils.
She said: “Conservatives promised the country they would build 300,000 houses a year. This week, without asking a single voter, @RishiSunak broke that promise by scrapping mandatory targets. He is shattering home owning dreams to appease his backbenchers.”
Conservatives promised the country they would build 300,000 houses a year.
This week, without asking a single voter, @RishiSunak broke that promise by scrapping mandatory targets.
He is shattering home owning dreams to appease his backbenchers 🏠❌#pmqs— Barbara Keeley 💙 😷🇺🇦 (@KeeleyMP) December 7, 2022
Lisa Nandy, Shadow Levelling Up Secretary said the decision is “unconscionable in the middle of a housing crisis.”
The Local Government Association have recently reported that that since the Conservatives took office in 2010, of 2,782,300 homes have been granted planning permission, only 1,627,730 have been built.
In the 1980s, the PM Margaret Thatcher introduced the ‘right to buy’ scheme that allowed people living in council homes the right to buy it off the council at a discounted rate.
This has been criticised as one of the policies that encouraged private landlords to buy and let second homes, and consequently vastly increased the rental market.
These factors, plus a reduction in new council housing since the 1960s has contributed to the housing crisis
Salford Council has 9,145 homes purchased under ‘right to buy’ in Greater Manchester since 2009/10 but only 3,906 social rented homes built to replace them over the same period of time.
To help combat this, Salford Council signed up to the Places for Everyone Scheme, a GMCA plan to build new social housing throughout Manchester.
1500 new homes are being built under the scheme in Worsley, Boothstown and Irlam to try and reduce the growing housing register list.
However, some of the Conservative Councillors in Salford have pushed back against this scheme suggesting that Green Belt sites should not be used to build social housing when there are available brown field sites in Salford that are cheaper and easier to build on.
Cllr Adam Keeley said: “I don’t understand why they would want to build housing on green belt land when there are enough brown field sites in Salford to build on.
“In this day and age, do people really think they’re going to put buildings on green spaces?
“We’re fighting as much as possible. We’ve done a local campaign. We’re working with RAID (Residents Against Inappropriate Development). The Council have done very little about this, and I think it’s because a problematic opinion.”
Much of what Cllr Keeley said has been reiterated in the conservative backbenches over the past week. Many of the 100 MPs who threatened to rebel against the government repeated that social housing projects should not be built in areas without the consent of local communities.
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