An Idea For Housing

Every few weeks there seems to be an item in the Bracknell Standard where residents or politicians are opposing new housing locally. Nevertheless Cllr Bettison spoke last week of the housing crisis. There will soon be 5 million people in this country on local authority or housing association lists. They need homes. The requirement for more dwellings is caused by an increasing population as we live longer and the sad fact that more relationships are breaking down. The recession will also add to homelessness.

Additional housing could be built on rural land, which will probably be needed for food production as the world population still increases by one and a half million every week, or near existing properties, which can threaten local infrastructure. I propose a third way.

The Halifax has stated it knows of 290,000 private properties that have been empty for at least 6 months out of the last 12. Surely a partial solution to the housing shortage is for local authorities to purchase (under existing powers) private properties that have been empty for a long time and improve them with increased insulation and energy efficiency. That is good for the planet.

Local building firms would take on extra staff who would otherwise be unemployed. The enhanced homes could then be rented, or sold at a profit, so all residents would pay less Council Tax. We would all win; nobody would lose.

David Young
The Green Party General Election candidate for Bracknell.