This is a topic I’ve written about before, having experienced homelessness personally it’s something I feel passionate about. I’m comfortably settled now and a recent inheritance enabled me to make a substantial donation to the homeless charity Crisis UK (who have read my previous blog and gave it a 👍) It has also been read by my local MP, whether it will result in any any action remains to be seen but his response confirms that he did read it.

A new petition from Shelter landed in my inbox recently calling on councils to build more affordable homes, I will not be signing or promoting it as I don’t believe this is the best approach to the housing crisis when there are an estimated two empty houses for every homeless family. Councils need to be empowered to either get them back into use or bulldoze them and build new homes on the site, instead of forcing inner city families to move away from their communities to put more strain on communities elsewhere. I’ve actually walked down a street with boarded up houses on one side and and new construction happening directly opposite – and it’s much worse in some inner city areas!

My local town council (formerly a parish council) is appealing to North Yorkshire Council to stop more houses being built. In the 23 years I’ve lived here Sherburn has been transformed from a large village into a small town – but without the infrastructure of a town! A new supermarket has opened but several shops and both bank branches have closed (I didn’t use either of those banks but the one I do use has closed it’s Selby branch). This means travelling into Selby or Leeds, on a public transport system that is frankly abysmal, for anything that can’t be done locally or online.

Our schools and health services are overstretched and there is a growing traffic problem due to our proximity to the motorway, we have a sizeable industrial area and I know of at least one business that chose Sherburn as their base for precisely that reason. More generally it’s more a matter of people driving into Leeds for work rather than use a bus or train as I used to do. In fact these issues are interrelated – if we had decent public transport people wouldn’t need to drive, but the reason we don’t have decent public transport is that private operators won’t invest in a service that few people use. It’s a vicious cycle!

My flat overlooks a green which the council proposed to cover with new builds, but they abandoned that idea when we asked “Where do the children play?” (There’s a high school and a primary school nearby). The ones we didn’t object to, three pensioners’ bungalow directly opposite me, are still waiting to be built – although they have demolished some unsightly derelict garages.

I also read an article about government plans for 12 New Towns, like Milton Keynes and Welwyn Garden City. Each development is supposed to include 40% affordable housing, but we need a proper definition of “affordable”. All housing is affordable to someone, the new homes built here were sold before building was complete, the question is whether they’re affordable to those who most need them.

The idea sounds utopian, build a new town with everything you need within a few minutes walk and expect people to uproot themselves and move there. I’ve no objection to utopian ideals if you have a plan for making a few steps towards your goal, but wouldn’t it be better to restore neighbourhoods where people already live? A few years ago people in the next postal district were being expelled from their homes for a new development, I doubt if they can afford the new buildings.

As a new member of the Green Party I was disappointed to see Zack Polanski repeating the simplistic idea that we need more social housing. Of course we do, but we need more joined-up thinking to get the right housing in the right place at a rent that’s affordable to those most in need and is accessible for people with disabilities.