Housing

Secure Communities
The Liberal Democrat aim is that every person in Britain should have the security of a decent home in a safe, strong community. We are committed to the pursuit of practical measures to rebuild Britain's communities, tackle the causes of crime, and reduce homelessness.

Focusing on important issues which affect the environment, promote the well-being of the local economy and encourage the participation by tenants and other local people in the management of their communities and the design of new estates is a key feature of the Liberal Democrat approach.

Homelessness and Partnerships
We want to end the scandal of people sleeping rough on the streets of Cambridge. In partnership with The English Churches Housing Group, the city was awarded 'Rough Sleeper's Initiative' funding for short stay accommodation in their supported housing project. Resettlement workers play a vital role in the process of assessing the needs of people who have probably given up all hope of ever living independently again.

We will continue to support homelessness projects coming forward as partnership proposals for move-on accommodation, especially those incorporating professional help for the many rough sleepers who suffer from drink, drugs or mental health problems. The lack of a drugs rehabilitation centre and the dire shortage of detoxification beds is a scandal which local authorities and the health service must work together to end. We will also review the City’s own temporary hostel accommodation. We will focus resources on assessment, support and resettlement.

More work needs to be done to provide housing with training opportunities for young people coming out of care or leaving home and ending up on the streets. Liberal Democrats have actively supported the 'Foyer' scheme being developed by the YMCA.

The English Churches Housing Group are also completed the third phase of a 'Young Homelessness project' which provides 27 young people with a home, a support worker and a training or work opportunity. This scheme is part funded by Local Authority Social Housing Grant and is an example of the kind of partnership working that we support, as is the pathbreaking Emmaus project, which also combines homes with work.

Cambridge's Housing Crisis
Cambridge faces a serious housing problem. Nearly 50% of new households in the City cannot afford either to buy or to rent a home in the private sector. Unfortunately, government restrictions on all aspects of housing policy, but especially on finance, mean that, no matter who runs it, the Council will not be able to implement the only practical solution to the problem, which is to build more social housing at a rate of about 200 to 300 homes a year. Regrettably, these restrictions look set to continue, a result of the Labour government’s inability to shake off Conservative dogma about how to calculate total government borrowing.

Scarce Resources
The City Council has had to make some hard decisions over the past year. Faced with a New Labour Government committed to old Tory spending policies, hopes that Labour's purported commitment to housing investment would be realised have been dashed. The Council has a £21 million repair bill and a further £20 million modernisation programme; the Labour government has granted a borrowing facility of just under £1 million as part of the 'Capital Receipts Initiative.'

Such sums are wholly inadequate to meet the city’s needs. For example, they will not go very far even in keeping going a capital spending programme big enough to provide PVCu window s and to fund other energy saving insulation schemes, even though such schemes are not just a matter of environmental correctness or saving money for tenants; they can save lives.

The City's housing stock faces a backlog of repairs and modernisation. Their overall condition is deteriorating. Things look set to get worse: building land in sensible locations is in short supply. We will continue to use the Council's planning powers through existing policies which require major developers to provide some social housing on prime development sites. It is important that every effort is made to see that the homes form an integral part of the whole development, built to the same quality, design and standard as the private property.