Horsham Labour party's chair, David Hide, sent a letter to the County Times today about its coverage of the issues relating to affordable housing. The full text is below:
Thank you for highlighting once more within the pages of the County Times the pressing need to address the chronic lack of affordable housing within one of the most prosperous districts in the country.
Once again it feels like only the County Times and Horsham Labour party understand both the human and financial consequences of the continued shortfall in provision by Horsham district council.
In your article (9 September) 'Family home is a distant dream for a new generation of adults' it is abundantly clear that with house prices at an all time high, homes are beyond the reach of all but the wealthiest.
Horsham Labour party has spent much of the last two years campaigning for much higher levels of affordable housing as we have, for a long time, recognised that this is not an issue that affects only those on low or no income, but a very large percentage of first time buyers looking to set up home here in Horsham.
Housing provision for those in need and the planning of new housing is the responsibility of our Tory run district council and yet, year-on-year, they fail even to meet their own pitifully low targets for affordable housing.
There is a real sense that the council is completely out of touch with the current reality and for too long has only wanted to provide new housing for the very wealthiest who look to move into the district at the expense of local people.
Something needs to change: this is not an argument about left versus right but simply right versus wrong, and our council, for many years, has been getting it oh so wrong. Perhaps the best thing for those many thousands of residents living within the district in need of decent homes is for them to consider replacing the current set of councillors with those more in tune with the needs of local people.
