Council chiefs in Kirklees have been urged to rethink their housing policies with more than 6,500 people on the council house waiting list.
The local authority has 6,665 people on its council homes waiting list, 4,155 (62%) of whom have been waiting for six months or longer.
Now Liberal Democrat councillors have urged the council’s Labour-led Cabinet to adopt new measures to tackle the housing shortage.
The Lib Dem group has tabled a motion for when councillors meet at Huddersfield Town Hall on July 16.
They have suggested:
- Using money from council tenants’ rents to help third parties build social housing in Kirklees;
- Using Right to Buy receipts to help third parties re-purchase former Right to Buy properties;
- Making full use of Government polices such as the New Homes Bonus to attract home building.
The motion also urges the council to write to the Government asking it to ease restrictions on borrowing for social housing.
Kirklees Lib Dem leader Nicola Turner said: “There is a real need in Kirklees for more affordable homes for people to rent.
“The Government has gone some way in helping councils do this through changes to the council rents account but they need to go further.
“We will be actively lobbying the Government for increased financial freedoms so that our council and other councils like Kirklees can provide the homes that our communities need.
“We hope the other political groups will join us in doing so.”
The Examiner contacted Kirklees Council leader David Sheard and Kirklees Cabinet member for housing Cathy Scott. Neither responded.
Which were Kirklees' most expensive (and cheapest) streets last year? Find out here
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