Chris Kane on HOUSING - Stirling Labour

The Stirling Observer has been running a series of statements from General Elections candidates on set topics. Here’s what Chris Kane had to say on HOUSING:

“There is a housing crisis in Scotland. With overcrowding and a lack of suitable accommodation for families and people with disabilities, Scotland not only needs more homes but more of the right homes. It doesn’t have to be like this. For Labour, housing is a social justice issue. Housing costs can push many people into poverty. Providing access to good quality, affordable and stable housing is a crucial factor in achieving the conditions necessary for equality of opportunity. A UK Labour government will oversee the most radical, and the largest, housebuilding programme since the war, investing to build over a million new homes across the country. Labour will not only build more homes, we will build better homes. We will insulate more homes to help people manage the cost of energy bills. We will consult on new rules to prevent ‘rabbit hutch’ homes and on new modern standards for building zero carbon homes. Labour would prioritise brownfield sites and protect the green belt. Labour will guarantee ‘Help To Buy’ funding until 2027 to give long term certainty to both first time buyers and the housebuilding industry. Labour will increase the number of affordable homes across all of Stirling’s communities. We will also give local people buying their first home priority; you should have the option to live where you grew up, not priced out of the market by rising property prices. Labour would end insecurity for private renters by introducing controls on rent rises to protect tenants from rip-off rents. Labour would consult on introducing a charter, similar to that in the social rent sector, to drive up standards in the private rental sector. We will reverse the Tories cruel decision to abolish housing benefit for 18-21 year olds. We will scrap the punitive ‘bedroom tax”. Labour will always work to deliver skilled jobs, warm homes, caring communities and great schools. A vote for Labour on Jun 8^th is a vote for the many, not the few.”