B&B Bill

Between Jan 15 – Oct 15 Shepway District Council have spent the sum of

£456’648.93    + or – 1%

on Bed and Breakfast Accommodation across Shepway.

SDC have not built a single council house in the last 20 years. It was only this year that new tenants moved into new housing built and paid for by SDC.

If we use the above figure as a rough average – guide – and times that by 20 years that is equivalent to nearly £10 million pounds factor in inflation over that time and the real amount is closer to £14 million.

How many houses could SDC build for £14 million.

Well we spoke to Taylor Wimpey and Barrett Housing and they gave us a rough figure of 2600 homes; which could be built across Shepway.

We at Shepwayvox, would like others, encourage SDC  – and its Tory lead adminstration – and other local councils to attract pension-fund money, eg Saga’s  through the issuing of local-authority bonds, and use this to invest in a dramatic increase in the stock of social housing.

This would provide a secure income for part of people’s pension pots, and in the process result in both a social and a savings dividend and the money would stay local and being invested into the Shepway Local Economy.

It would also reduce the B&B bill tremendously and create “affordable” housing for locals who live in Shepway.

Some of us at Shepwayvox are old enough to remember the days when councils were second only to building societies in granting mortgages.

We hope those at SDC might look into the idea of Shepwaybonds; of which we have spoken before.

A Seeda Report in 2009 makes it very clear that SDC’s data indicates that 40 per cent of housing in central and eastern Folkestone is unfit or rather – not fit for purpose.

Mr Susan Priest was Executive Director of SEEDA when the report was released in Nov 2009. She is now a Corporate Director at SDC.

Will she along with Cllr Ewart James Cabinet Member for Housing do something about the Housing Situation and also help lower the B&B bill?

You can contact them at the following email addresses

susan.priest@shepway.gov.uk       

alan.ewart-james@shepway.gov.uk 

Shepwayvox