The local council is making bold moves to address the growing crisis in short supply of social housing. They intend to sell up to seventeen larger long vacant homes to the private sector. This effort comes as the council grapples with a waiting list of nearly 250 people requesting social housing. Devon Watson, the Council leader, explained that the time for debate is over and what people need is real action to provide access to more housing options.
In her keynote speech, Devon Watson brought the struggles of the community to life. He continued, “There’s not enough social housing; there are currently around 250 people waiting to be housed. To meet this pressing demand, the council plans to reinvest money from the sale of outdated homes. It is through strong investment like these funds that we can finance the future of more social housing projects. The initial half-dozen houses should be on the market in the next few weeks.
Watson emphasized the council’s dedication to making tenants’ bills of rights a priority. He continued, “It’s tenants first – if it doesn’t work for them, then [the initiative] essentially doesn’t work.” This sentiment underscores the council’s focus on ensuring that any initiatives undertaken are beneficial to those who require housing assistance.
In response, the council has been aggressively pursuing new ways to get more housing built. Tomorrow or the next day, they’ll issue an RFP for design of a new social housing block. Watson went on to say that collaborating with the private sector is one of the top strategies they are using to tackle the housing crisis. That is why we can leverage the absolute smartest, most cost-effective, most efficient results by partnering with the private sector. He called the sale of some vacant properties a win-win solution. This proclamation shows the commitment of this council to develop a smart, sustainable plan of housing development.
Peter Washington, the council’s communications director, spoke on behalf of the council. He recently shared why investing in new homes is a more effective response than refurbishing aging properties. As he stated, “Rather than retrofitting in-place homes one at a time—which means people being displaced from their homes for months at a time—we should put more resources towards new, replacement homes.
The council’s actions are a model of the proactive, early intervention needed to avoid future housing shortages while working in partnership with private stakeholders. They seek to stabilize their local housing markets by selling off these vacant properties. Their efforts prioritize new construction to increase the availability of affordable housing.
