Housing
“Housing is a major problem in Lichfield, Burntwood and the villages especially for younger people,” says Paul Ray, Liberal Democrat candidate for the General Election. ‘The average house price here is £323,905, according to a local estate agency. And rents are high enough to put rental out of the reach of many.”
While all parties pledge to build new homes, the Lib Dems want to work with housing associations and councils, rather than developers, and to encourage councils to build. The Lib Dems say that the solution to our housing crisis is not to just build more and more homes which then go on the open market. The Lib Dems say that we need to build 150,000 social homes each year.
As Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has rightly pointed out, people often don’t want new housing in their area because the infrastructure needed to support the new population doesn’t arrive with the housing.
“This is something that I hear time and time again,” says Paul Ray. “We will make sure the infrastructure is built alongside the homes, rather than being an afterthought which is often forgotten. And as Ed [Davey] has said, we in the Lib Dems place emphasis on social and affordable homes, making the planning process community-led, rather than dancing to the tune of the developers.”
Specifically, Lib Dems will encourage councils to use “brownfield” sites as well as building ten new garden cities. For developers who are “land banking”, where sites are bought and remain undeveloped, there will be a “use it or lose it” policy.
And for renters, we will ban no-fault evictions and there will be clear standards for those who are renting out social homes, including strict time limits for repairs.
“We want to see a fair deal for all, homeowners, renters, and those who are yet to set foot on the housing ladder, as well as those who are currently homeless,” says Paul Ray
There’s much more in the Liberal Democrat manifesto, which you can find online and gives the details of our fair deal for everyone.