Council 'could do better' on affordable housing

1.06.12pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 29th Jun 2005

'Could do better'. That was the verdict of Guildford Borough Council Liberal Democrats on the Tories' claim to have delivered on affordable and key worker housing within the Borough. One of the Conservatives' 'key delivery targets' for 2004-6 was to 'secure 35-40% affordable homes in line with GBC policy'. This commitment has vanished from the revised delivery targets for 2005-7. Liberal Democrat Housing spokesperson Cllr Fiona White points out that last year the Conservatives even rejected a proposal for a 40% target to be built-in to Guildford's planning policies.

Cllr White says "The Lib Dems proposed that all new housing developments above a threshold size should provide 50% affordable homes, built by housing associations for rent or shared-ownership. The Tories not only rejected that, they even refused to adopt the same 40% target as their Conservative colleagues at Surrey County Council. No wonder this target has quietly vanished from their 'key deliverable targets'."

Cllr White points out that many of the affordable housing completions that the Conservatives are now boasting about were built as a result of the golden legacy handed to them by the previous Liberal Democrat-led administration. In particular, the Queen Elizabeth Park development in Stoughton made a major contribution towards the affordable key worker keyworker housing numbers.

Cllr White added "The absence of a specific target for 2005-7 will make it very difficult to judge whether or not the Tories have achieved a high percentage of affordable homes out of the overall number of residential properties built. We challenge the Conservative Executive to aim for at least 40% affordable homes in larger housing developments, so that we can cut down on the number of families and individuals on the housing waiting list".