A dysfunctional housing market!

My latest column in the Cornish Guardian looks at planning matters again. It is as follows:

The Government is continuing to attract significant criticism for its proposed National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which one Tory MP has announced will allow developers to build “what they like, where they like and when they like.”

The Framework has been denounced as “cavalier,” while opponents have accused the Coalition of “downgrading the rules which protect the natural environment” and distorting the meaning of sustainability to “mean its mirror opposite.”

At the same time, Government housing minister Grant Shapps has acknowledged that house prices in Britain have become "too unaffordable" while the National Housing Foundation has branded Britain’s housing market to be "totally dysfunctional.”

But their simplistic solution, in line with their planning framework, is to “build, build and build.” This is simply wrong, especially for Cornwall and its communities.

Let’s look back at the last few years and a few facts and figures.

In 1991, Cornwall had about 190,000 occupied dwellings. Over the last twenty years, over 45,000 new properties were built – an increase of 25% in housing stock. And yet, in spite of all this building, house prices went up and up!

Indeed, in the ten years from 1997, house prices almost tripled while private sector rents have also spiralled out of control. But wages, in areas like ours, have climbed by only 35% over the last decade.

The Housing Minister may talk about the high cost of housing, but his Government is doing little to reduce the cost of renting or purchasing a house, especially in low wage areas like Cornwall.

In terms of “affordable housing,” the Government is actually doing the exact opposite and now wants housing associations to charge more for their rental properties.

If Grant Shapps and his colleagues are serious about dealing with the dysfunctional housing market in this country, there is much they can do.

They could and should investigate legislation to control prices in the private rented sector – so that people are not paying out a disproportionate amount of their income to simply keep a roof over their heads.

They need to increase government investment in the delivery of truly affordable homes for local people, and to rebuild a public rented sector with rents kept as low as possible.

And they need to take on the banks who are denying many young families fair mortgages by demanding huge deposits and, in many cases, refusing mortgages to people seeking affordable properties.

Statement of the day: I'm proud to be Cornish, but ...

In the debate on a public holiday on St Piran's Day, and in the Members' Library after the meeting, it was amazing how many councillors uttered sentences along the lines of:

"I'm proud to be Cornish, but ..."

"No-one is a prouder Cornishman than me, but ..."

"I'm Cornish, but ..."

It is all very disappointing and it shows why Cornwall needs more Mebyon Kernow councillors.

Other debates at County Hall

There were two further debates at Cornwall Council today.

The first was a Liberal Democrat motion which sought to monitor the number of staff and salaries, etc, in the three operational areas of the unitary council – known romantically in New County Hall as east, central and west.

The aim was to make information available to encourage a fairer deployment of resources across Cornwall and it was supported by a majority of councillors. It was ironic (understatement of the year) though to see Lib Dem councillors blaming others for the centralisation they caused by pushing through the unitary authority in the first place!

A large number of the concerns came from councillors in the north and east of Cornwall. My contribution was to point out that the impact of the centralising influences stretched further than that. I raised concerns that the Council’s presence in St Austell faced being downgraded due to the influence of Truro and likewise Penzance is losing out to Camborne and elsewhere.

The final motion dealt with by the Council was to acknowledge serious under-funding of the NHS in Cornwall and to challenge the Secretary of State to uplift Cornwall’s health funding by £20.6 million in this financial year in order to combat the underspend.

Unsurprisingly, this was carried unanimously.

Councillors not standing up for Cornwall

At the full meeting of Cornwall Council this afternoon, councillors had the opportunity to support a motion which simply instructed the Chief Executive to respond to a consultation stating that any change to existing bank holidays should lead to the creation of a public holiday for St Piran’s Day.

Sadly, councillors voted to defer making a decision – including many who, in the previous debate, spoke out so strongly against Devonwall and in favour of greater powers for Cornwall.

As I said at the meeting – if the Council does not make this simple representation it will show how its lacks ambition and sees Cornwall as merely a nameless, rural hinterland somewhere to the west of Plymouth.

If a St Andrew’s Day holiday is ok for the nation of Scotland; if a St David’s Day holiday is a possibility for the nation of Wales – then we must argue for parity and a St Piran’s Day holiday for the historic Celtic nation of Cornwall.

I was one of a number of councillors who recorded their names as voting against the amendment to defer this item.

For information - with the exception of the MK Group, all other groups on the Council were split when it came to the vote.

Councillors standing up for Cornwall

At the full meeting of Cornwall Council this morning, councillors voted to strongly assert their anger at the shift towards an elected Police Commissioner for “Devon and Cornwall,” and to not support the Chief Executive becoming the PARO (Police Area Returning Officer) for the Commissioner Elections if they happen next May.

The heart of the motion was to “send a strong cross-party delegation to the Home Secretary to assert stronger Cornish representation in governance, opposition to Devonwall, assessment of the case for a Cornish Commissioner and Police Force, principle of democratic governance and accountability.”

It was also good to see some councillors at the meeting standing tall and demanding action for “our country” or “nation” – and it wasn’t the usual suspects!