Bedford Borough Conservative Group Leader Cllr Stephen Moon has hit out at the Liberal Democrat and Labour administration for dramatically reducing the amount the Council spends on affordable housing.
In his last budget former Mayor Frank Branston set aside £1m a year to encourage developers to bring forward affordable homes in the Borough. However, the current administration budgeted just £754k in total for the years 2010/11 – 2013/14 and the actual expenditure totalled just £496k over that period.
Cllr Moon said:
‘The Council’s Lib / Lab pact has abandoned people who are in desperate need of a property to call their own. It is deeply regrettable that those who will miss out as a result of this severe budget cut are residents who are struggling to secure social housing or a property for rent or sale below market value.
‘By slashing the affordable housing budget, Mayor Hodgson has shown that he has nowhere near the same commitment to affordable housing in comparison with his predecessor, Frank Branston.
‘We would reinstate this as a priority and commit at least £1.5m per year to this objective. As a housing authority we could and should be doing more, not just operating through developers and housing associations.’