Fair Deal for Housing Makes Lib Dems the Best Choice for Southwark

The new Liberal Democrat plan would be of huge benefit to Southwark, which is currently struggling to provide adequate affordable homes for residents.
 
In the past few months, a senior officer admitted Southwark cannot meet its target of 11,000 new homes and has been repeatedly singled out by the Housing Ombudsman for inexcusable failings in handling repairs and complaints.
 
The Liberal Democrat plan, passed in a motion moved by MP Helen Morgan, includes commitments to build 150k new social housing each year, reforms to protect renters and additional powers to tackle empty homes.
 
Additionally, thanks to an amendment from the Young Liberals group, the Liberal Democrats reiterated their commitment to a housing target of 380,000 new homes per year.
 
Commenting, Southwark Liberal Democrat Housing Spokesperson Cllr Emily Tester said:
 
“13 years of destructive underfunding from our Tory government along with local mismanagement from Southwark Labour has left housing in our borough in complete crisis. Labour’s housing target has been exposed as empty political spin and the repairs service become a prominent embarrassment after repeated Housing Ombudsman interventions.
 
The Liberal Democrats' national plan will provide a desperately needed solution to places like Southwark which are acutely feeling the effects of the housing crisis. Our party showed that it is democratic and willing to listen to voters, particularly young voters, in keeping its targets for new homes. With these ambitious policies, the best thing for the people of Southwark would be a Liberal Democrat victory.”
 

• The Liberal Democrat plan to tackle the housing crisis is outlined in a press release and the full motion can be found here.
• Details of the two cases from May 2023 can be found in the Housing Ombudsman statement.
• The Housing Ombudsman press release regarding the two cases from July 2023 can be found here.
• Footage of former Southwark Housing Director’s comments regarding Southwark’s housing target can be found on parliament.tv, with comments from Michael Scorer at 17:19:20.
• Further information regarding Southwark council’s housebuilding targets can be found on the council website.