Local people deserve affordable housing

Steps have been taken to start putting this right but much more must and will be done.

Housebuilding across the country has soared to its highest level in almost a decade with 164,960 new homes started in the year to June 2017.

This is more than a 75 per cent increase on the low point seen in 2009.

Across Hastings and Rye we are also seeing the speed of housebuilding increase. However, it needs to increase faster still. That is why I am pleased the Government is putting in place additional support to make this happen and, crucially, to ensure that homes are affordable

Earlier this month it was announced that funding for the Government’s Affordable Homes Programme will be increased from £7.1bn to £9.1bn.

This will help to supply around 25,000 more homes at affordable rents.

Also, as well as the £10bn Help to Buy scheme, further steps are being taken to make the process of buying a home cheaper and easier.

This week the Department for Communities and Local Government launched a consultation to help identify how the housing market can be made to work better.

This will look at a number of areas including gazumping – where sellers accept a higher offer from a new buyer, how trust and confidence can be built between buyers and sellers, and how technology can help speed up the buying process.

Another crucial element in boosting housing supply is ensuring that the right infrastructure is in place to make developments possible.

This is why I have given my full support to projects such as the Bexhill to Hastings Link Road which can help deliver up to 2,000 new homes, and high speed rail which has the potential to deliver many more.

It is also why the Government is making £2.3bn available to local authorities in England through the Housing Infrastructure Fund.

I could not be clearer that local people deserve high quality and affordable housing.

Measures are being put in place to make sure this is the case and, as your MP, I will work to ensure that our communities benefit as fully as possible from this.