Everyone should have access to a safe, good quality and affordable home. Yet we know that sadly this is not the reality for many. The housing market in this country is broken and its impacts are far-reaching. Here in Medway, too many residents are paying extortionate levels of rent to live in homes that are not fit for purpose; too many cannot afford to buy their own property, an opportunity that was available to generations before them; and too many have been failed by a system that has resulted in them sofa-surfing, living in temporary accommodation or sleeping rough.

Support the development of sustainable communities and new homes to meet Medway’s growing housing need by:

• Adopting and implementing the Local Plan, as well as prioritising development on brownfield over greenfield sites
• Ensuring that new large-scale developments are meeting infrastructure needs
• Accessing national and regional bids for infrastructure delivery
• Setting out clear guidelines for the use of S.106 funds (developer contributions to a local area) to ensure they properly benefit the community

Increase the delivery of genuinely affordable homes and set targets for social housing delivery by:

• Setting new ambitious – but achievable – targets for the delivery of affordable homes and social housing; which are at least 30% of the overall development
• Creating requirements for developers to publish their viability studies, if these targets are not met
• Using opportunities created by the lifting of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) cap, a specific pot of money ring-fenced to manage council housing, to build more council houses

Review the rental sector in Medway and create better protections against unscrupulous landlords and bad tenants by:

• Setting up a Medway letting agency so that landlords can avoid the high charges from private lettings agencies and tenants can get a fairer deal
• Creating a landlord licensing scheme to review and improve Medway landlord and tenant accreditation schemes
• Influencing national policy to drive forward private rented sector reform
• Introducing a new private renters’ charter, setting out renters’ rights and responsibilities, as well as Medway Council’s powers to intervene
• Setting up a new housing advice hotline and online service to improve support for private renters and those at risk of homelessness

Tackle homelessness and the causes of homelessness by:

• Supporting and extending the Housing First programme
• Working closely with local community groups, local providers and organisations to review what is working and what isn’t
• Scrap the three days below zero temperature baseline, set out in the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) guidance
• Considering opportunities to use empty council properties as homeless shelters
• Develop a robust programme to bring empty properties back into use

Medway Labour’s housing spokesperson is Cllr Naushabah Khan.
Medway Labour’s planning spokesperson is Cllr Nick Bowler.