Homes for the South West’s New Manifesto for Boosting Housing Delivery
Coalition’s manifesto outlines how to overcome challenges to the delivery of affordable homes
Homes for the South West (H4SW) group of housing associations is calling on government to implement the recommendation in their new manifesto to increase housing building in the region.
In its manifesto, ‘Building the affordable homes the South West needs’ the coalition identifies the four challenge areas to work through that will boost housing and deliver economic benefits for the region.
The South West has long suffered from historic level of underinvestment. There is a shortage of 200,000 homes relative to housing need and this number is rising year on year. Median house prices have risen by 400% in the last 25 years, whiles median earnings have only gone up by 83%.
To overcome this situation Homes for the South West wants to work with Government on four key challenge areas are:
- Harness the built environment to drive economic growth
- Make sure more public land is used to deliver affordable homes
- Reform the planning system to deliver new homes
- Ensure that funding genuinely helps deliver regeneration and new affordable homes
Within each challenge area are tailored recommendations that look beyond simply asking for additional investment in the current economic environment and towards what can be realistically achieved over the short, medium and long-term.
Louise Swain, Chair of Homes for the South West and Chief Executive of Alliance Homes said: “The manifesto identifies key strategic policy interventions that could be taken to deliver the new, high-quality and affordable homes. It takes a strategic approach to tackling the housing challenges that exist, recognising that they cannot be solved completely in the short-term, but instead require a long-term vision. It’s not simply a shopping list for Government either but seeks to work in partnership with Government, local MPs, the combined authority, councillors and other key stakeholders.”
