Housing is Jim’s main concern

Jim Walker says:“For many families housing is the most important part of their lives as many of them struggle to cope with, many through no fault of their own, the situation of finding themselves in a homeless situation and having to turn to the council or their other housing partnerships for help.

“All too often, as a councillor, you find yourself trying to help young families in this situation together with other young couples who are desperate to find a place of their own at a cost they can afford.

“Temporary accommodation in areas where families can find themselves isolated from often much needed support from other family members or friends is not the answer as is the case with temporary accommodation in some hotel room.

“The need for greater affordable housing is evidently obvious and a new house building programme must be a top priority and this coupled by a review of the house allocations procedure could go some way to alleviating the ongoing problem.

“There are of course other aspects of local authority housing and whilst new build is a top priority so must the maintenance and improvement of existing stock be to ensure that all tenants can live in comfortable and affordable housing.

“If elected as an independent candidate at this election I will continue to work for the betterment of housing throughout the area.