On the 25th November 2015 at 7pm Dorchester and District Labour party will be holding a public meeting at the Corn Exchange to discuss affordable housing both to rent and buy, with the citizens of West Dorset.
Claudia Sorin of Dorchester Labour said “We will be holding a public meeting across the road from the latest private development. We want to get the views of families in the area who are being priced out of the housing market due to the lack of supply at locally affordable prices.”
Claudia said “Dorchester’s residents are facing a housing crisis the likes of which it has not seen in generations. The Government has presided over the lowest level of house building in peacetime since the 1920s. The consequence is that families are being priced out of local housing whether this is renting or buying. We know there is real demand for both first time and family homes in the area.”
Figures obtained by Labour under the Freedom of Information Act show that the wait for a 3 bedroom house can be up to 8 years with a 2 bed flat being up to 10 years.
Claudia continued “This simply is not good enough. Should we have luxury second homes built in Dorchester, when we can’t provide homes for our existing residents?”
Labour believes West Dorset District Council should take action to tackle the housing crisis by requesting private developers build real affordable housing, whether to rent or buy to help deal with the growing housing problem in West Dorset. Labour will be inviting the other 4 political parties in the area to attend as they need to make a positive contribution to this debate.
Lee Rhodes
