Affordable housing on the new Porter’s Grove estate in Hollington. In terms of both new and affordable/social homes, house-building in Hastings is lagging well behind the required rates.

Labour welcomes housing moves by both council and government

Hastings Labour Group have welcomed Hastings Borough Council’s recently published draft housing strategy, which is currently out to consultation. They also laud measures taken by the government to boost housing supply and improve renters’ rights. Nick Terdre reports.

The Labour Group say they are keen that as many residents as possible engage with the housing strategy that aligns with the Labour Government’s significant plans to get Britain building 1.5 million homes.

Councillor Helen Kay, Labour Group leader, said she is clear that more affordable homes are desperately needed in Hastings town.

“It’s well-known that we are in the midst of a housing crisis perpetuated by 14 years of chaotic Tory rule. Too many local people are finding that secure, affordable housing is unavailable or out of their budget.

“The Labour Government are fixing the foundations so we can make sure Hastings residents get the safe, secure, affordable homes that are desperately needed.”

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has set out ambitions to deliver around 300,000 social and affordable homes through a £39bn programme nationwide. Along with reforms to renters’ rights, planning and infrastructure, Cllr Kay says she knows this could be transformative for Hastings’ residents.

The group cites further government measures, including a £950m cash injection into the Local Authority Housing Fund to increase the supply of temporary accommodation by local authorities; the provision of £2.5bn in low interest loans for social housing providers to invest in the development of affordable housing and £1bn for social housing providers to fix building safety issues.

Meanwhile they welcome the Renters’ Rights Bill which, they say, “represents the largest expansion of the rights of renters in a generation”. It will ban Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions while empowering tenants to challenge unfair rent increases.

In the survey the council asks for comments on the five priorities it proposes setting for housing policy, including obvious aims such as “deliver the homes we need” and “prevent homelessness and end rough sleeping.”

In terms of delivering homes, Hastings’ record is currently poor. In the three-year period 2020-2021 to 2022-2023, 348 net new dwellings were built, compared with a requirement of 1,235 under the government’s Housing Delivery Test, according to the council’s Local Plan Monitoring Report published in February.

Over the same period 72 affordable houses were built, equivalent to 16.9% of all new homes.

Good response

There has been a good response to the survey, with 560 online responses so far, the council told HOT on 1 August.

‘I’m grateful to all those who responded to the Council’s housing survey and to the housing strategy task force for their work on the strategy,” Cllr Kay said.

“Their generosity in sharing experiences of appalling living conditions, high rent and housing costs and their hard work in developing the strategy has resulted in a Draft Housing Strategy that reflects the aspirations of Hastings residents.”

The consultation on the draft strategy, which is open until 31 August, can be accessed on the council website. Once responses from the public have been taken into account, the proposed final version is expected to be presented to the Cabinet for approval in the autumn.

HBC’s previous housing strategy expired in 2019 but was not renewed by the Labour administrations in power in the following years.

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