The UK is embroiled in a housing crisis as there just aren't enough affordable homes to go around. Housing is a Basic need in society and for those who can't afford the increasing prices of housing, results in those being stuck in the private rented sector or being left homeless. The Office for National Statistics reports the average home in England cost an average of 7.8 times a full-time workers salary. The shortage of homes is causing prices in the UK to grow with the average price of a property up 4.2% to £224,144 making the average home unaffordable. Sign the petition to help us create more Affordable homes in the UK.

1. SOCIAL HOUSING NEED: Winchester has become an increasingly unaffordable place to live, especially for those on whom the everyday functioning of the City depends. The City Council had a good record of council house building until the Right to Buy and deliberate central government policy to deter investment in social housing. The replacement policy of building property for rent as part of commercial development processes, was based on the notion of ‘affordable’ house provision. In a place like Winchester the criterion for affordable property, that it should be leased at 80% of commercial rent, meant that it was not affordable at all for those most in need. Central government has, moreover, reduced the availability of ‘affordable housing’ through its concessions to the dubious ‘viability’ claims of the developers. A well known local architect has produced a capacity study which shows that the site could accommodate 14 x 2-bedroom units and 11 x 1-bedroom units on the space currently allocated for car parking. These type plans are based on ones devised by Peter Barber Architects which are built & occupied on 2 London sites. 2. Use of 'Brownfield' to PRESERVE GREEN OPEN SPACE: Recently, WCC has invested in a limited amount of new social housing, but it has so far achieved this at the expense of important urban open space (at Hillier Way in Abbotts Barton and expected in the Valley at Stanmore). ‘Brownfield’ is supposed to be the land of first choice for development and St Peter’s car park is an appropriate area. 3. St. Peter’s Car Park was ONLY ever intended to be TEMPORARY: It was built on the site of St Peter’s Primary School in the mid 1980s. St Peter’s School was demolished and turned into a temporary car park while the Brooks Development car park was being constructed. WCC always asserted that it would close once the Brooks opened. That promise is 30 years old. At each new provision of Park and Ride car park capacity WCC undertook to the Department for Transport and the Highways Agency, to remove an equivalent amount of central car parking capacity. Of the 1654 spaces thus promised for closure only 178 have gone, through the forced demolition of the ageing Friarsgate multistorey. The Winchester Town Access Plan (WTAP) 2011 promised an initial removal of 500 spaces. It is time to keep promises. 4. There is a PRECEDENT for this kind of conversion with the loss of car parking in Chesil Street to housing. 5. AIR POLLUTION would be REDUCED: Both Councils recognise that Winchester remains significantly in breach of air quality legislation and this is indeed one of the reasons for the Movement Strategy proposing traffic reduction. St Peter’s Car Park is on the central circulation system and is thus a traffic attractor to the centre. It is, moreover, immediately adjacent to St Bede’s Primary School and worrying air pollution levels have been demonstrated there. WHY NOW? (a) the need for more social housing is URGENT (b) WINCHESTER MOVEMENT STRATEGY: Winchester City Council (WCC) and Hampshire County Council (HCC) have published a draft Movement Strategy for Winchester which explicitly recognises the need to reduce traffic in the City and points to the need to remove central car parking. These proposals have received widespread support during public consultation. The Movement Strategy needs to be activated or it is in danger of fading away like previous plans (e.g. the WTAP) but is not so far displaying any sense of urgency and hesitates over uncertainty of funding. Since there is adequate Park and Ride capacity available now and underused edge-of-centre car parking capacity, there is no particular funding difficulty in relation to transport budgets. (c) FAILURE TO MEET AIR POLLUTION LEGISLATION: WCC has an urgent need to address its legal failure to meet air pollution legislation. It has been in an illegal state for more than 9 years and last year’s High Court and Supreme Court rulings were that authorities should meet their obligations in the shortest possible time, stressing that that meant no excuses of convenience or cost. You can find more info about this campaign with many more photos on our website here: https://winchester.greenparty.org.uk/social-housing.html Or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/winchestergreenparty/

This is important because no one needs to be sleeping rough here. The council has a duty of care to every human being A home is a basic need Until a person has ‘a home’ they cannot move on to the next stage of rebuilding their life and participating in society. Providing a home for people will ‘pay for itself’ further down the line as people are able to contribute to the Economy once they are part of it. Am excluded person is costly! Help them!

The tenant’s movement in Southwark will exist in name only if we are reliant on Southwark councillors to approve our funding. At a time when Southwark is undergoing unprecedented levels of regeneration such as in the Old Kent Road, and when Labour have a massive majority on the council, this seems like a blatant attempt to silence all potential critics of council plans. The tenants’ movement in Southwark – our Tenants and Residents Associations (TRAs), our Area Forums, our Tenants’ and Leaseholders’ Councils and our tenants federation (the SGTO) – all play a vital role in holding Southwark Council to account. Southwark Council is our landlord and we need the freedom to criticise them when necessary and to campaign on behalf of residents without fear of having our funding withdrawn. The recommendation to change the funding structure is part of a raft of attacks on tenants which came from the Resident Involvement Panel - a panel of handpicked individual residents and paid employees of the council which was set up without the involvement of any existing tenant organisations. This whole process was a sham and Southwark Labour should immediately reassure Southwark residents that they will reject these recommendations. We demand our right to have access to our own money, to fund our own representative organisations, and to have our voices heard.

2,627 people have died homeless in the last five years - but the true figure is much higher.

I am registered severely sighted and have a Guide Dog whom will soon be a match but have no garden or outside space.

This is important because it would take a lot of pressure off parents and their children. It would also keep the roads safer as it would mean less traffic on the lochloy Road as buses would mean less cars.

To improve the life chances of future generations Develop the skills, knowledge and employment of the young For the UK to be energy independent/self sufficient To eliminate energy poverty To give the earth and all it supports a chance for repair

This is important to me because my cousin is fighting at this moment of time against the government to stay in this country. She came here when she was 12 and lived most her life here. Her mother died and she couldn't go to her funeral. There is so much she wants to achieve for e.g. university and she can't. There is so much more like her struggling in Britain and they need the support.

The Council Offices are used by Crediton Town Council to hold meetings in the council chamber and to conduct their business. The building is also used by Citizens Advice, the Churches Housing Action Trust and about 20 other charitable organisations and as a base when community events take place on the town square opposite. All these organisations will be left homeless and there are no other suitable premises close in to the town. Council officers recommended that the building be sold to the Town Council at 50% of the restricted value as recommended by council officers in April 2017 - the same terms as Tiverton Town Hall was sold to Tiverton Town Council recently.

A baby boy known as EG starved to death because his family weren't given the support they needed by the government. His mother, an asylum seeker left destitute after not being able to recieve benefits, was rendered unconcious for several days after suffering a rare brain infection; leaving her unable to feed her child. She also died two days after her son. Had EG's family been given the support they needed by the government, this might not have happened. Unfortunately starvation and destitution is the shocking reality for many refugees in the UK. Currently, in the UK the "move on period" is 28 days. This means that refugees who have been granted asylum in the UK get 28 days of housing and/or benefits before they are left to fend for themselves regardless of whether or not they have been able to find their own residency and employment. However most of the time it takes much longer than 28 days for refugees to receive documents from the home office that allow them to live and work in the UK. There have even been reports of refugees waiting  months for their papers despite being forced out of their accommodation before recieving them. This is incredibly unfair and results in many refugees becoming destitute; leaving them vulnerable, isolated and often living in extreme poverty. Please help support this campaign by signing the petition and hopefully we can make a positive change to the lives of the thousands of refugees living in the UK.

I can hardly walk and it is vital that my scooter is at my door at all times for my daily needs. I had a visit from 2 firemen who did not have a problem with it being there.