News from Southampton Labour

Construction of affordable homes drops by 90% in Southampton

Alan Whitehead MP slams Tory-led Government as housing and economic policies hit home.

The Tory-led Government’s policies were exposed today as official figures revealed that affordable house building had collapsed in Southampton. The figures from the Government’s Homes and Communities Agency show that affordable housing starts fell 90% from 296 to just 31 in 2011/2012 compared with the previous year.

These figures demonstrate the disastrous impact of the Tory-led Government’s housing and economic policies and the need for urgent action to build much needed homes and get the economy going again.

Labour would repeat the bankers’ bonus tax to build 25,000 new affordable homes. Together with our proposed 5% cut to VAT on home improvements, that would mean more homes, that are in a better condition, creating much needed jobs and apprenticeships.

Alan Whitehead MP said:

“The Tory-led Government is failing families in Southampton who are in desperate need of a home. We have a growing housing crisis and the Government’s policies are making it worse. Across the country there has been a 68% fall in affordable home starts, in Southampton we’ve seen over a 90% decrease.

“Labour has called on the Government to take action by repeating the bankers’ bonus tax to fund 25,000 new affordable homes while proposing a one year cut in VAT on home improvements, repairs and maintenance to help homeowners, small businesses and create much needed jobs and apprenticeships.

“The houses completed over the past year are a legacy of Labour’s affordable housing programme and the action we took to build much needed homes. We would act again now using a tax on bank bonuses to build up to 25,000 affordable homes, fund 100,000 youth jobs and get the economy going again.

“This government needs to think less about grabbing headlines and more about tackling the worsening housing crisis.”

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