The Green Party has welcomed a decision by ministers to axe
arbitrary house building targets and have called for future
housing development to be led by affordability, quality and
environmental standards.
Green Party spokesperson on Housing and communities, Ellie
Chowns, who is also a Cabinet Member on Herefordshire Council,
said:
“Councils of all political colours have pushed back against
unrealistic top-down housing targets, which have taken
decision-making away from local authorities and ignored the views
of local people. And where targets have been missed, it has
allowed developers to get away with lower quality housing that is
less sustainable and less affordable.
“It’s time to rebuild a housing strategy that takes powers away
from central government and the giant house builders funnelling
money into Tory Party coffers and give councils the power to set
their own housing targets to meet the needs of local populations.
We need the focus of future development to be on building
genuinely affordable housing that is good for local people while
helping to tackle the cost of living crisis and the climate
emergency.
“We certainly do need thousands more new homes, but the priority
should be on homes for social rent, built to the highest
environmental standards so they dramatically cut energy bills and
carbon emissions. We also need to prioritise building on
brownfield sites and preserve our precious green spaces which are
good for public health and for nature.
“All new housing must also be served by high quality walking and
cycling routes and much improved public transport services.”
ENDS
