My Statement on Government Intervention in Stockport’s Housing Plan
The Minister of State for Housing and Planning wrote to me yesterday regarding Stockport Council’s failure to adopt and progress with an up-to-date Local Development Plan. I welcome the decision by Minister Pennycook to intervene and I hope that this will finally get Stockport’s long-overdue Local Housing plan back on track.
Housing is an issue that I have continually raised nationally and locally since being elected to the House of Commons in December 2019. Stockport is a wonderful place to live, work and raise a family but for far too long, the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives have dragged their feet, leaving our town without a clear plan for growth and at increased risk of piecemeal and speculative development.
While I have in recent weeks had the opportunity to visit new housing developments in Stockport - alarmingly there are in excess of 9,500 households on the waiting list for social housing, far too many families are living in emergency or temporary accommodation at huge cost to the local authority. The level of rent in the private sector here in Stockport has escalated and people are desperate for security and affordability when searching for housing. Understandably, they are turning to the social sector, and Stockport Council’s failure to adopt a Local Housing Plan has impacted precarious housing sectors further.
Since pulling out of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework in 2020, as a result of Liberal Democrats and Conservative Councillors voting against, the Council has failed to make meaningful progress, missing its own deadlines and letting down residents in the process. This Government was elected on a commitment to build 1.5 million new homes, and every part of the Stockport Borough must do its part.
Following Labour’s record breaking £39 billion investment into social and affordable housing, I want to see Stockport leading the way. Our Council must take action to meet Stockport’s critical housing need; residents have faced delay and uncertainty for too long.
Notes-
BBC News (4 December 2020) - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-55171926