Broxtowe opposed transfer of their council housing stock and have more than 4,000 council homes. Broxtowe Council Labour Group has affiliated to the Labour Campaign for Council Housing. Cabinet member for Housing, Vanessa Smith explains why.
“We believe firmly in the importance of council housing and support the work of LCfCH to secure safe, decent and truly affordable homes for future generations.
We are fortunate enough to still retain a high number of our own council properties and have been working hard to increase that number in the face of decades of real terms cuts to local government funding and right to buy legislation. We’re proud to say that in 2023, we managed to add more than we lost through right to buy for the first time since it was introduced. However, we recognise that there is only so much we can achieve without significant reform at a national level and are committed to campaigning alongside fellow councillors and members to push for those reforms. We want RTB to be ended.
We shouldn’t have to be begging for scraps from developers or have to do it piecemeal through buy-backs and building on every scrap of old garages etc, but we will, because we know how transformative even one council tenancy can be. It’s just not sustainable long term.”
Labour Campaign for Council Housing 