16 March 2024
Councillor Jack Lenox has responded to the recent reports of high levels of people in the district living in temporary accommodation by calling for more investment by Government in social housing.
Jack has praised the City Council for its bold plans to build more social housing on the former Skerton School site. He commended its commitment to address the problems of the ageing council housing stock of around 257 council homes in the wider Mainway area. However he has slammed the Government for its failure to provide much needed investment in council housing.
Cllr Jack Lenox who is the Green Party’s general election candidate in Lancaster and Wyre said:
“Council housing and their secure tenancies are an essential part of housing provision. The next Government must do far more to support local councils in meeting the desperate need of affordable housing for rent, including council housing.
“The primary source of funding for social housing should be central Government grant at levels that enable high standard, low rent properties. Local authorities such as Lancaster City Council should also be able to access more affordable finance for housing without interference from central government.”
Jack, who is a renter in Lancaster said:
“We need to see an end to the sell-off of social housing through Right to Buy. Each local authority should decide for itself which, if any, of its properties should be offered for sale, mindful of the need for social housing in their local area. If housing is sold, councils must be able to retain all receipts and to reinvest the money in the improvement of local housing provision.
“We are in this position of a desperate shortage of affordable homes because successive Government policy has encouraged the treatment of housing as a form of speculative investment, rather than a basic requirement for every individual.”
Following the purchase of former Skerton High School site by the City Council last year, the Council plans to submit a planning application in the next few weeks for a mix of around 135 affordable and social-rented new homes. These homes will be owned and let by Lancaster City Council.
Future plans for housing in the Canal Quarter, the small developments on garage sites and the refurbishment and rebuilding of Mainway will ensure that the amount of genuinely affordable housing in the district will significantly increase.
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