No Affordable Houses To Be Built On Bath Quays North

17 January 2018

It has been revealed by The Bath Chronicle that no affordable housing will be built on the Bath Quays North Project.

Tory BANES council leaders, who submitted a viability study to argue they can no longer deliver affordable housing on the site, have come under widespread criticism as a result.

Wera commented:

"This is a terrible proposal. Is it any wonder? This is a political decision The Tory administration on the council is making because they are stuck with the conservative government’s ideological cuts.

There are 4,500 people on the waiting list for social housing, yet here we are talking about the Tories not even delivering a reduced percentage of affordable housing. Whilst affordable housing is desperately needed for key workers and young professionals, the situation for the poorest and most vulnerable remains bleak in Bath.

Let’s not forget that it is council policy to include 30% affordable houses in developments of this kind. So why are they relying on the possibility of grant funding to achieve this? Instead, they have used the same dodgy tactic a developer used last month on Lansdown to get out of building affordable homes there.

I will be meeting with the new housing minister next week, to encourage him to allow councils to borrow money to build social housing for their communities."