LIBERAL Democrat leader Nick Clegg yesterday told of his

determination to confront an affordable housing crisis in the

Westcountry which was leading to a "massive social

problem".

Speaking to the WMN on a visit to Cornwall, he called on the

Government to "free up local authorities to raise money and

spend money on social housing".

In a wide-ranging interview, Sheffield MP Mr Clegg spelt out

his party's agenda for fishing, farming, helping the low-paid

and poor, Europe, the environment and the next General

Election.

He said the Lib-Dems would step up their campaign to save

local post offices and to build sustainable communities. And he

named housing as a priority issue facing the people of Devon

and Cornwall.

Mr Clegg said: "The scale of the crisis is enormous. We have

one million fewer in social housing than we did during the last

housing crisis of 1992-93. We have 1.6 million people on the

waiting list for social housing nationally, 19,000 in Cornwall

and growing. You're not going to solve that unless you give

local authorities more freedom.

"Government has to give councils the freedom to raise and

spend money to build up their stock of housing. We are saying

to Gordon Brown, you have got to let go and relax all the

Treasury rules that restrict social rules. But time and time

again, the Treasury just turn a deaf ear and say it would be

dangerous to Government finances, which is nonsense."

"Why is it that local authorities are not allowed to keep

the money from the sale of council houses? Why is the Treasury

snatching money away from the local communities that need it

the most?

"They could tomorrow decided that all local authorities keep

the receipts from the sale of public housing. And combine that

with greater freedom to borrow money."

Mr Clegg said the Government had to lead by example by "by

promoting very actively shared ownership – a scheme that would

allow a young couple trying to get their feet on the housing

ladder to buy 25 per cent of the house and rent the

remainder."

Mr Clegg saw in person how the housing crisis was affecting

small communities such as St Agnes, where the average house

price is in excess of £200,000.

At the same time, average household wages for the area are

£20,000 – a tenth of the asking price.

Cornish MPs echoed the view that local people were being

"priced out of their communities. St Austell MP Matthew Taylor

said: "All the political parties need to work together on

this.

"That's why I did a report to the Prime Minister making

specific recommendations, and I hope there will be a positive

response this autumn. What I have suggested is the community

should be given much greater power to decide where the local

housing is, where it is, what it looks like, and that it's in

perpetuity for local people.

"I don't think there's a market solution to this because you

could build an awful lot of houses in lovely villages like St

Agnes and the price will still be high because there are people

wanting to move in from other parts of the country.

"The only way you can keep them affordable is to use

planning rules to make it the case that they have to be sold or

rented at affordable prices with a local connection. That can

be done, it's just not done often enough. As an average,

villages likes this will get one affordable home every five

years."

Julia Goldsworthy, MP for Falmouth and Camborne, said:

"Second home ownership is a real problem in certain

communities. But local councils are not even given the power to

understand how great the problem is, let alone tackle it."

Their comments came as Adam Symons, the prospective Lib-Dem

candidate for Torridge and West Devon, reported the concerns in

Devon of Shelter, the national homelessness charity.

Mr Symons said: "The housing downturn is threatening plans

to increase the number of affordable rural homes.

"Shelter said that housing needs in Torridge and West Devon

are still acute, and building new affordable homes is the major

way of relieving the pressure.

"The housing downturn is threatening plans to increase the

number of affordable rural homes in the area. Fewer private

builders are entering the market, therefore it is up to local

authorities and housing associations to bridge the gap."

Click below to listen to Neil Young's

interviews with Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg during his

visit to Cornwall with Falmouth and Camborne MP Julia

Goldsworthy.

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