500 signatures reached
To: Brighton & Hove City Councillors
Brighton & Hove City Council STOP SELLING OUR LAND
We call on our Brighton and Hove Councillors to demand that the Council:
• Will honour its pledges to substantially increase the availability of homes at Social rents.
• Will always, as a priority, use available funding, such as the current Central Government allocation, to undertake an urgent major programme of Council Home construction on suitable Council-owned land.
• Will only dispose of publicly owned land and assets only after full transparent consultation with the local Community and will prioritise approaches that focus on affordability, social value, quality of build, sustainability, conservation and enhancement of the local environment.
Why is this important?
Background information:
Our land - We are concerned about how our Council is managing its most valuable asset, public land. There is a growing danger that it may consider disposing of land for short-term benefit, without full consideration of how it may solve the City’s long-term problems. A major ongoing issue being the shortage of suitable housing for local people.
Housing costs and incomes Sussex Live reported in May 2021, using Government data, that rent payments take up nearly 47% of income for those who live in Brighton. This is now ahead of London. In addition, too many people are trapped in emergency and temporary accommodation, and this is more than likely to increase if we do not act now.
Consequences of bad housing: - There is a growing awareness of the web of knock-on effects due to inadequate housing, including malnutrition, drink and drug abuse, domestic violence/abuse, child poverty, mental & physical health issues. The resolution of these issues is becoming increasingly difficult for local Councils to resolve, and we are seeing long established safety nets gradually being removed.
Social housing – the solution – We cannot fail to be aware of the importance of decent, sustainable social housing as a means of improving people’s lives, thus enabling our Councils to use their resources more effectively. This view is supported by every major housing and homeless charity in the UK , who have agreed that building more suitable homes is the only answer to the Homeless crisis.
Many more Council Homes - We must, therefore, use our publicly owned land to build council homes. UK Central Government has allocated £10 billion to build social/council homes. Both Conservative and Labour Parties have accepted the latest report prepared by "The Kerslake Commission" and both parties have agreed to build a minimum 90,000 council homes a year. The Green Party in our city have always supported community house building and to build homes fit to live in for decades to come.
Action required - So, with these facts in mind, we can see no justification or excuse for the Council trying to sell off our land for ineffective private development. This must be used for building much-needed Social Homes. We the public, as owners of this land, must tell our elected Councillors to protect it from being sold off or tied up in long leases, often at nominal prices and allow it to be used for the benefit of our communities.
Please sign and share this petition and get your friends (and friend’s friends!) to do the same. If you can’t sign this, you may be part of the problem!
