All homes built on land acquired from college should be council housing

IN December’s cabinet meeting the acquisition of land from City of Bristol College in South Bristol for 350 new homes will be discussed and most probably approved by Bristol City Council.

Having read the agenda item report I can see the logic in buying land from the college so that debts can be settled.

It is proposed that 30 per cent of the housing built will be affordable and the local government act of 1972 permits the council to allow the remaining 70 per cent to be sold/rented at market value.

All housing is affordable to someone. The problem today is that housing is not affordable to most people with current market property prices out of the reach of many average Bristolians.

We have unprecedented numbers of people sleeping on the streets or in hostels run by charities, and tens of thousands of people waiting to be housed by the council.

The market has failed people which is why it is incumbent upon the council to challenge the few who are benefitting from an unjust market which protects those with the most and penalises those with the least. This can be done very easily by building 100 per cent council housing on the land owned by the college.

The current administration has a mandate from the people of Bristol who have elected a Labour majority on the council for the first time since 2005 thanks to the message of hope from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Even the Conservative central government by lifting the borrowing cap is paving the way for more council housing which would provide people with stable and secure homes, create jobs to build, maintain and manage the homes generating a consistent, long-term source of income for the council for generations to come.

Oliver Fortune

Montpelier