Ealing residents are being invited to give their views on Ealing Council’s ambitious new plans to address the affordable homes crisis.
The council’s draft housing strategy consultation, which launched on May 7, aims to listen to residents and community groups and ensure their priorities are represented.
Ealing is at the sharpest end of the affordable housing crisis, with more than 7,500 families on the waiting list. Since 2018, private rents have almost doubled in some areas, and the total number of privately rented properties across London is down by more than 40 per cent. Combined with the cost-of-living crisis and the government’s freeze on local housing benefits, there has been a massive spike in the number of families approaching the council for emergency help with their housing.
With its beautiful open spaces and fantastic transport links, Ealing is a great place to live. However, it is also one of the most expensive places to buy a home in London, with the average house price over 16 times the average income.
The draft plan has four main priorities:
- Increasing the supply of genuinely affordable homes – working with residents and partners to ensure that there are enough of the right types of new homes to meet residents’ needs.
- High-quality housing: homes that are healthy, safe, and sustainable – making sure that homes benefit the health and well-being of residents.
- Supporting people to live well in the community, working with partners to prevent homelessness and rough sleeping, and providing housing choices for older residents to live independently.
- Promoting resilience and inclusion and fighting inequality – improving engagement with residents and making sure council services are accessible for all.
Councillor Peter Mason, the leader of Ealing Council, said: “Working with people across Ealing is essential as we look to make our borough a fairer place to live, and now we want to gather your views on our new plan to tackle the housing crisis. We’ve already got one of the strongest home-building records in London, and we want to continue that hard work, providing the genuinely affordable homes that our residents need and helping to build communities full of pride, identity and purpose across our seven towns”.
Councillor Shital Manro, the council’s cabinet member for good growth and new housing, said: “We know the scale of the issues faced and the importance of getting this right. We believe that our new draft housing strategy sets out bold and ambitious plans, and we want to hear from our communities to find out what you think.
“Our new approach to housing builds on the council’s pledge to be open, transparent, and inclusive and to make sure that local people are at the centre of the decisions we take. We know that when it comes to building new homes, one size does not fit all, so we are adapting our approach so that we can respond to the different housing needs across the borough”.
The consultation will last 12 weeks and will include various engagement events with tenants, landlords, and other local community groups before the housing strategy is finalised in September.
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