The most ambitious council home building project for 20 years
September 9th 2009
Southampton’s Labour MPs, John Denham and Alan Whitehead, have welcomed today’s announcement that the government will invest an extra £1.7 million in Southampton to build new, low carbon council homes.
The government today announced that Southampton would receive funding to build 26 new family council homes in the city, as part of a drive to build 2000 more nationwide. This amounts to the biggest drive to build new council homes for over two decades.
A second round of funding will be announced later in the year.
This investment comes on top of the £9 million of ‘Kickstart’ cash for Southampton announced in July to get building works that had stalled due to the recession back on track.
80% of the new council homes given the go ahead today will be built to standards well above that required by building regulations, helping to cut CO2 emissions and reduce energy bills for the families that live in them.
All of the schemes put forward were subject to tough testing. They had to represent value for money, help meet specific local housing needs and be able to begin construction before March 2010.
Welcoming the announcement, Dr Alan Whitehead, MP for Southampton Test, said:
“This is the biggest council house building programme for almost two decades and I am really glad the people of our city will benefit. It is good news both for my constituents on council waiting lists and for those living in areas of overcrowded private rented accommodation. I am particularly pleased that energy efficiency will be part of the blueprint for these new homes, which is an essential requirement if we are to really tackle fuel poverty in the future and reduce our city’s carbon footprint.
John Denham, MP for Southampton Itchen, said:
“This investment stands in stark contrast to the Tories' proposals for cutting spending on affordable housing – which would have seen £800m less invested in housing in 2009, equivalent to 9,000 fewer affordable homes to rent. And while Labour is working to deliver the new housing that families need, right here in Southampton the Tories have a poor record of supporting affordable housing and have refused to match our investment in Southampton if they were to form the next government.
Dividing Lines on Housing: Labour vs. the Tories
- Labour's £1.5bn Housing Pledge stands in stark contrast to the Tories' proposals for cutting spending on affordable housing - which would have seen £800m less invested in housing in 2009, equivalent to 9,000 fewer affordable homes to rent.
- While Labour is working to deliver the new homes that families need across the country, the Tories continue to campaign against the building of new affordable housing whenever plans are brought forward in their areas.
- The Tory Shadow for local government, Caroline Spelman recently wrote to Tory councils inciting them to cut the financial ground from under builders with the threat that schemes would not be continued once they are in office. Aside from getting ahead of themselves over the outcome of the next election, such crude threats by one of their front-bench team display why the Tories have no plausible policies to secure the investment and new homes that the country needs.
- The Tory-run council at Hammersmith and Fulham has been exposed for deploying an odious approach to social housing. Its leader has referred to council housing as “warehousing poverty”, and internal council memos have referred to “barracks for the poor” and how it was “hard to get rid of people” from their homes.
- Hammersmith and Fulham is often referred to as a flagship for Tory policy-making, and is led by a key adviser to the leadership, and someone who heads up the party’s Councils’ Innovation Unit. The 8 million people who live in social housing across Britain should know that the language and approach used by the Tories in Hammersmith and Fulham is likely to be a national blueprint for Cameron’s wider housing policy.
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