Affordable Homes

Ade and the Liberal Democrats know that a good home is an absolute necessity for people’s wellbeing and the base on which they build their lives. So we will ensure that everyone can have access to housing that meets their needs.

Yet, in Britain today, many people cannot afford to buy or rent a home of good quality where they live.

Government housing targets are regularly missed and the shortage of affordable and social housing is at crisis point. Newly built homes are often energy-inefficient, many leaseholders are still facing large bills because of the building safety scandal and homelessness remains shamefully high. Local authorities’ powers to build the kind of homes needed in their areas are inadequate.

Ade and the Liberal Democrats are committed to tackling these housing failures head-on by:

• Building at least 150,000 new council and social homes a year, giving local authorities the powers to end the right to buy in their areas, and requiring them to have a landlord licensing scheme.
• Allowing councils to buy land for housing developments based on current use rather than on a “hope value” based on planning application by reforming the Land Compensation Act 1961 and strengthening their powers to build their own homes.
• Strengthening rights for renters in the private sector by banning no-fault evictions and making longer tenancies the default, and for social housing tenants by giving them more powers over the management of their homes and estates.
• Improving standards for new homes to ensure they are warm, cheap to heat and produce zero emissions.
• Ensuring that leaseholders do not have to pay a penny towards removing dangerous cladding from their buildings.