Effort to change social housing policy is defeated

A MOTION calling on Staffordshire Moorlands District Council to examine a business case for local authority-owned social housing when considering future developments has been thrown out.

At the last meeting of the district council, Councillor Bill Cawley urged the authority to look at building more social housing.

Cllr Cawley’s motion noted that last month was the centenary of the opening of the first social housing in the area with the Abbots Road development, in Leek, a consequence of the 1919 Housing Act, which was born out of the pledge to provide ‘homes fit for heroes’ for returning Great War.

The motion stated: “The act allowed local authorities for the first time to comprehensively provide social housing.

“Since then the failure of successive policies including the ‘selling-off’ of council housing has led to reduction in supply of affordable housing which is having a detrimental effect on those on low incomes, particularly impacting on those in rural areas.

“Many of those affected will be modern day heroes working in health and social care, cleaning, retail, distribution and transport, who have worked through the pandemic servicing the needs of the communities of the Staffordshire Moorlands .

“The need for affordable housing was recognised by the Local Plan endorsed without dissent by the full council in September 2020.”

Cllr Cawley told the meeting: “The motion mentions rural areas and as an example I have looked at Ilam where according to Zoopla average house prices stand at £554,000.

“It is ironic that the 19th-century Gilbert Scott-designed cottages for estate workers in the centre of the village are now well out of the price range of the people they were originally intended for.

“As a consequence villages are being denuded of people such as care workers, hospitality workers, etc on which these settlements depend.”

But District council leader Councillor Sybil Ralphs said 300 affordable houses had been built in the past few years, while Councillor Edwin Wain, who has the responsibility for planning on the council, said: “Ilam and Waterhouses have no problem with housing. Market forces dictate.

“There are a lot of houses to let in Waterhouses on the new estate.”

Cheadle councillor Gary Bentley said that a care home was demolished in the town to build houses.

He said: “Ten years ago a care home behind the fire station was knocked down to build 20 houses.

“Can we start this project, as we own the land? We have lost thousands in council tax revenue from the site.”

Councillors voted by 25 against the motion with 16 in favour while eight abstained.