Anger at claims of housing 'betrayal' (From The Argus)

Anger at claims of housing 'betrayal'

4:28am Thursday 11th October 2007

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Council leaders in Sussex have hit back after the Government accused them of "betraying" firsttime buyers by trying to prevent the construction of homes.

Housing minister Yvette Cooper said it was "unacceptable" for local authorities in the South East to decide they did not want housing developments and that all parts of the country had to take responsibility for easing the housing shortage.

Although Ms Cooper did not point the finger at any particular council she said she was "disappointed" at moves by the South East England Regional Assembly, of which 15 Sussex councillors are members, to try to reduce a proposed regional target for new homes.

Senior Sussex politicians have hit back, saying Ms Cooper's comments are misguided.

Councillor Mary Mears, chairwoman of Brighton and Hove City Council's housing committee, said: "Councils have fairly limited powers to stop housing schemes.

"As Ms Cooper says, there's an appeal system whereby the Government can overrule council planning committees.

"This looks rather like the minister buck-passing for a housing crisis stemming from years of Government inactivity and underfunding of affordable homes.

"There's no desire here to stop housing but it needs to be the right type in the right place and we're incredibly short of space."

Worthing borough councillor Bob Smytherman accused the Government of following a "Right-wing agenda" on housing issues and said "real policies" needed to be put in place to tackle social housing shortages.

Ms Cooper told a committee of MPs it was clear there was a need to build more affordable housing and more social housing.

And she insisted plans to build three million new homes by 2020, laid out in the Housing Green Paper earlier this year, were sustainable.

She said: "I am disappointed by the South East England Regional Assembly effectively wanting to cut the numbers of houses built in the South East, when the level of housing demand is growing and there is a huge influx of first-time buyers.

"It's a betrayal of first-time buyers to argue against it."

She warned that financial support in the form of planning delivery grants would only go to those authorities that were responding to the level of need for homes in their area.

And she said planning decisions against "reasonable" developments could be overturned on appeal.

Ms Cooper told the committee the Government was examining ways to make it easier to build council houses and the Communities and Local Government Department was looking at how to utilise empty homes.

Laura Moffatt, Labour MP for Crawley, welcomed Ms Cooper's comments, saying: "We are actively campaigning to bring these homes to the South East because we desperately need them in the Crawley area."

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