PLEA made to council.
Thursday, 21st November 2002.
A PLEA for the least well paid to be helped on to the local property ladder has been made to St Edmundsbury Borough Council by MP Richard Spring.
In a joint letter with Bury St Edmunds MP David Ruffley, Mr Spring has written to Ray Nowak, leader of the borough council, to raise the issue of affordable housing.
They point out that the Local Plan envisages affordable housing new builds of at least 40 per cent, but express surprise that social landlords offer exclusively rent-only arrangements.
They call for greater flexibility and say the council should offer a variety of arrangements via social landlords.
"The reason we oppose 100 per cent rent-only arrangements is that they deny the realisable aspiration to home ownership amongst our least well paid workers.
"If all social housing new build is rent-only, this would actually encourage a further rise in property prices, given the size of the 40 per cent figure.
"So a cycle of unaffordability would be further established. It would be undesirable to recreate the council housing culture in the 21st Century, when today so many of our constituents have a real aspiration to home ownership," the letter said.
In a joint letter with Bury St Edmunds MP David Ruffley, Mr Spring has written to Ray Nowak, leader of the borough council, to raise the issue of affordable housing.
They point out that the Local Plan envisages affordable housing new builds of at least 40 per cent, but express surprise that social landlords offer exclusively rent-only arrangements.
They call for greater flexibility and say the council should offer a variety of arrangements via social landlords.
"The reason we oppose 100 per cent rent-only arrangements is that they deny the realisable aspiration to home ownership amongst our least well paid workers.
"If all social housing new build is rent-only, this would actually encourage a further rise in property prices, given the size of the 40 per cent figure.
"So a cycle of unaffordability would be further established. It would be undesirable to recreate the council housing culture in the 21st Century, when today so many of our constituents have a real aspiration to home ownership," the letter said.
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