David leads calls for more affordable homes in Bradford
David Ward today led a Parliamentary Debate on the urgent need to provide more quality affordable housing in Bradford to meet the needs of a growing number of young people.
In the debate, David identified poor quality housing, and lack of affordable housing as being key barriers to economic development in Bradford. He called on the Government not to overlook housing challenges in Bradford and to ensure that policies will deliver new housing where it is needed most.
Commenting, David Ward said:
"Bradford has the youngest fastest growing population outside of London. That is a fantastic opportunity economically but only if they can find decent affordable homes in the city. At the moment that isn't happening. We are currently only building around a quarter of the homes we need to keep up with Bradford's growing population.
"We also need to address the scandal of empty homes. It is unacceptable that there are 4000 long term empty properties in Bradford while 6000 people are unable to find somewhere to live.
"I have called for this debate because Ministers need to recognise the unique challanges this area faces and make sure that the right policy tools are in place to deliver quality affordable housing in places like Bradford. We need a housing policy that works for everywhere, not just London and the South East."
On current projections 150,000 people will be added to Bradford's population over the next 20 years. To meet this projected growth Bradford needs to deliver 2,700 homes each year. However even at the peak of the housing boom in 2008 only a little over 2000 houses were completed, and by last year this had fallen to just 700.
40% of Bradford's private sector accommodation currently fails to meet basic standards, 10% is overcrowded and across the district more than 7000 properties stand empty (4000 are considered long-term derelict).
You can read a transcript of the debate here:
Or watch a video here:
http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=8562