A priority for me over this Summer Recess is looking at ways to solve the housing crisis that we are currently experiencing in Cornwall.
I am being contacted daily by local people who are struggling
to be able to find or keep accommodation, for a variety of reasons.
There have always been issues with affordability of housing
in Cornwall, as a long-term renter I know this first hand, but recent impacts
from the COVID-19 pandemic have created a perfect storm of pressures which is affecting
both the regular housing market as well as the private and social rental
sectors.
Resolving the housing crisis is a top priority of the newly
elected administration at Cornwall Council, and of this Government. There are
long term issues in the housing sector that have been left unaddressed for some
time but the new administration will now work with the Government to sort out
this issue. A lot of hard work is going in to addressing it but it is not going
to happen overnight.
In terms of social rent, there are 17,000 people looking for
council housing through Homechoice in Cornwall - and the average wait to find a
home is 9 months. 20% of those already in council accommodation. It is not
unusual for over 150 people to be bidding for one property.
Cornwall Council can get hold of significant amounts of
finance to build the council housing that we need to start addressing this
issue, but it's not a magic wand, we can't start building tomorrow, delivering
the amount we need will take time.
Cornwall Council also needs to work effectively with the
budget it has and a huge challenge has been the ambitious plans of the new
administration to move away from expensive, short term hotel accommodation to
temporary and emergency accommodation. The new administration have already
introduced the first site at County Hall for the Bunkabins which will provide
safe and secure accommodation for locals. The council has also moved towards
creating council-owned accommodation where local people in need can be housed
without worrying about being asked to leave at a moment’s notice. The council
needs to own this provision so they can offer the security of tenure to the
families and individuals in need. This will not only provide peace of mind and
increased wellbeing for those being housed, but it will also make more
financial sense.
Turning to the Private rented sector, sadly there are some landlords
who are taking advantage of the high prices on the market at the moment and
selling up, meaning that the private rented sector is shrinking. The Government
suspended evictions during the pandemic, quite rightly, but that was solely for
the duration of the pandemic. We need to now do everything we can to support
those who were in private rented accommodation to ensure they are able to find
another home to live in. If people are due to be evicted and need help and
advice then please do contact my office – we are here to help.
Of course there are also Cornish families who rightly want
to be able to buy their own homes in the communities they have grown up in and we
need truly affordable homes for them to buy
Instead of building on our green fields in our villages, or
mass developments extending our towns, we need to look at what brown field
sites are available to us in Cornwall – there are plenty of them both in rural
and urban areas. Equally, I fully appreciate that local families will want a
plot in the village they grew up in with a garden for their children to play
in. This shouldn’t be a luxury. Everyone has a right to a home of their own and
we need to make this happen.
Finally, I want to touch on second homes. I am in discussion
with colleagues about ways to better regulate them. For example, do we follow a
similar model to plans proposed in the Lake District whereby if you want to
take a full time residential home and turn it in to a second home, you need
planning permission to do this. By doing
this we can start to regulate the housing market. For example Cornwall Council
could then say that a particular area has its fair share of second homes, and will
not grant any more change of use permissions for the time being.
There is a massive amount of work to do in this area, but I
am working with both my Cornish MP colleagues and Cornwall Council to bring about
the lasting change that is needed across the housing market to ensure people in
Cornwall are able to have stable, affordable and permanent places to live, for
ours and future generations.
As ever, if you need my assistance with anything then my
team and I are here to help. Please get in touch with me by email at
Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk , or by telephone on 01872 229698. I have
now restarted my regular constituency advice surgeries, held in a covid-safe
environment at my office, so please do get in touch should you wish to meet me
about any matters that I can be of assistance with.
No comments:
Post a Comment