DERBY PAYS PRICE AS CRISIS DEEPENS FOLLOWING £4bn AFFORDABLE HOMES CUT

THE number of new affordable homes being built in Derby has plummeted by 97 per cent as the flawed Conservative-Lib Dem response to Britain’s housing crisis deepens.

Incredibly, out of almost 1,000 starts on affordable homes in the East Midlands during 2011-12, just three of them were in Derby.

While housing waiting lists grew and increasing pressure was heaped on Derby City Council and housing providers, the number of new affordable homes started in the city slumped from 116 a year earlier.

Not just that, but the situation in Derby is much worse than the national average. The 15,698 homes started in 2011-12 compared to 49,363 the year before represents a 68 per cent drop.

The horrible reality is that the Tory-Lib Dem Government is failing families in Derby and across the land. The crisis is deepening and their response is only making matters worse.

When I saw the statistics for Derby I could barely believe that just three projects were started in Derby in the whole of 2011-12 compared to 116 a year earlier. It’s utterly shameful.

But this isn’t simply about bricks and mortar. It’s about families who don’t have homes. They’re the victims of this Government’s bungled policies.

Under the Tory-Lib Dem Government, there has been a £4 billion cut to the affordable housing budget, locking families out of the housing market, fuelling rising rents in the private rented sector and leaving more people on housing waiting lists.

Labour has pledged to build 25,000 new affordable homes and propose a one-year VAT cut on house improvements, paid for by repeating the bankers’ bonus tax.

FOOTNOTE: The Homes and Communities Agency Statistics show that a total of 19,967 homes started on site in 2011-12, a decrease of 65 per cent compared to the 57,648 homes started in 2010-11. 15,698 homes started were for affordable housing, a decrease of 33,665 or 68 per cent from 2010-11.

In the East Midlands, there was a 58 per cent drop, with 971 starts in 2011-12 compared to 2,297 a year earlier. In Derby, there 116 starts in 2010-11 and just three in 2011-12 – a 97 per cent fall.