Delivering on our promises to build more social housing

Ahead of the 2019 Guildford Borough Council elections, Guildford Liberal Democrats announced an ambitious policy to clear the housing waiting list over a decade by building more council housing. Three years on, and despite almost two years of delays caused by Covid, Lib Dems are delivering on their promises with housing schemes being developed and a proposal in next year's budget to spend £142 million on new homes at social and affordable rent or for shared ownership to meet the needs of those on the housing register.

The proposed housing capital investment programme will be put to the meeting of full council this February and includes £24.5 million to refurbish existing council homes as well as £142 million to build and buy new ones.

Lib Dem Deputy Leader of the Council and Lead Councillor for Community and Housing, Cllr Julia McShane said:

"Back in 2019, we set ourselves an ambitious target because we knew that without ambition no real progress would ever be made on housing those most in need. Under our leadership, the council has rightly prioritised supporting our communities and the most vulnerable through the Covid pandemic which inevitably caused delays in the development of housing schemes. Despite the pandemic and us having to share power in a joint administration, I'm proud to see us putting plans in motion to dramatically increase council housebuilding.

"Each year there is a large surplus in our housing revenue account from rental income but shamefully the previous Conservative administration allowed that surplus to build up in reserves and chose not to reinvest in new homes or to refurbish existing ones. Getting to put this right by starting a major programme of investment in social housing is one of the best parts of my executive role.

"Our £142 million plan to build and buy more social homes is a fantastic opportunity to start really reducing the council waiting list. I am equally proud of our £24.5 million plan to refurbish our existing council homes to meet the highest safety and environmental standards. To help meet our carbon reduction targets we are investing in improving our homes with air source heat pumps, improved insulation as well as replacing lighting with low energy alternatives on our estates and in communal areas. This will help our tenants reduce their fuel costs, improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. We will also be working to install more than 600 new kitchens and bathrooms, improve fire alarms and fire doors, upgrade electrics, perform structural repairs and improve lighting.

"It is my priority to ensure our tenants are safe and happy in their homes and we recognise that we have a critical role in supporting our residents and our communities. We are maintaining our investment in supported and sheltered housing and increasing support to help our most vulnerable residents to maintain their tenancies.

"We only have just over a year to the next borough elections when I want to see more Lib Dems elected to the council to be able to continue the work that we have started."