I welcomed the motion at a recent full Crawley Borough Council meeting, calling on the Crawley Labour group not to inflict a policy their colleagues on Croydon Council are looking to introduce – namely a tax on private sector landlords which will simply be passed on to hardworking tenants.
There is already licensing for rented Homes in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in Crawley. All that will happen if this £200 annual charge is brought in is that it will be passed on to tenants who are trying to get on in life. I am pleased that Crawley’s Conservatives are standing up for local private sector tenants by vehemently opposing this idea in our town.
In Crawley, the former Conservative administration acted to help meet our housing needs by bringing forward strategic housing developments. This includes Kilnwood Vale, 2,500 homes to the west of Bewbush, and Forge Wood – 1,900 homes in Crawley’s 14th neighbourhood. Even more local families will be able to achieve their dream of owning a home, and enjoy greater financial security.
The Government’s Help to Buy scheme has assisted 48 individuals or families buy their own home in Crawley so far. Nationally, the figure is almost 40,000, and 80 per cent of these are first-time buyers. Help to Buy is also giving builders the confidence to build, with the Equity Loan part of the scheme directly supporting demand for new-build homes.
Under this current Government, 173 Crawley families have been able to purchase their council house in, since the Conservatives recently increased the Right to Buy discounts available to tenants.
The reason that housing shortages have been acute in recent years is because new home building fell to its lowest level since the 1920s under the previous government. Since Help to Buy was launched, private sector house building has increased by 34 per cent with the construction sector growing and taking on new workers at the fastest rate for 17 years.
In contrast, the new Labour administration at Crawley Borough Council have refused to rule out additional charges on private sector landlords. They did not back the Conservative motion against such charges, which came following Croydon’s proposal of an annual £200 fee.
Conservative policies are helping people in Crawley and around the country get on the housing ladder. Let’s not allow Labour to take us back to the years of tax and spend that would put economic recovery at risk.