Heather Kidd has made an urgent plea to the new Prime Minister, Teresa May, to address the crisis in affordable homes in rural areas like Shropshire.
Speaking at the National Housing Federation Rural Housing Conference in Holborn, London, Heather blasted the Governments record on providing homes to those on modest incomes.
She said “This Government’s record on affordable homes has been truly lamentable, since 2016 they have written a virtual blank cheque for developers to build an over abundance of 4 and 5 bedroom homes whilst doing precious little to meet the housing needs of ordinary families.”
Cllr Kidd in particular highlighted:
l The almost total lack of grant funding available to encourage Housing associations to build affordable homes in rural areas where it is more expensive to build.
l The obsession with funding starter homes means that many are left with no housing available to them. These are only being built on large development in the urban areas. NOT for rural dwellers. In areas such as South Shropshire average wages are low and couples need to borrow 12 or 14 times their wage to buy a house. This is out of the question.
l The removal of the affordable homes levy on housing developments of 10 and less houses i.e. the bulk of developments in areas like in the rural Shropshire countryside. It is 5 or less in the Area of Outstanding Beauty. Most housing in these area are developments of ones and twos.
Heather concluded: ” In her first speech as Prime Minister Mrs May promised to listen to ordinary families who may be struggling to make ends meet. Making some radical changes in Government Housing policy to delivery homes that people can afford would go a long way to honour that pledge. Affordable rented housing for local people is vital if we are to keep our communities alive. Schools and shops across our rural villages will face closure unless we act now.”