Labour have submitted a motion to Devon County Council addressing Devon’s Housing Crisis. The motion sees Labour take leadership on the crisis, calling for a county wide Devon Housing Forum to develop a range of effective local and grassroots solutions including key workers. It also calls on the Secretary of State to secure the necessary powers and resources through the Devon Devolution Deal to make significant and lasting progress to provide people in Devon with somewhere affordable, safe and secure to call home.

The full text of the motion:

Council notes with concern that Devon is in the grips of a serious housing crisis. Second home sales are soaring, private landlords are switching to holiday letting in huge numbers, significantly fewer homes are available to buy or rent, and both renters and buyers are being priced out of the county in an unprecedented way.

The post pandemic far South West property boom has especially compounded decades of systemic under investment in social and affordable housing, that has prevented local councils, housing associations, alms houses and charities from investing in more much needed homes for local people and families.

We know that across Devon we have thousands on the Devon Home Choice waiting lists, with thousands more not eligible to apply, and thousands more in often poor quality private rental stock. Home ownership is now only a distant dream for so many.

People who’ve lived here for generations are being pushed further away by property prices that they simply cannot afford.

Furthermore we also risk our communities becoming unsustainable, we have a county wide recruitment and retention problem across all sectors, including at Devon County Council.

Council therefore resolves to;

• Set up a high level action group to look at using Devon County Council resources to provide some key worker accommodation for our own staff such as adult and children’s social workers.

• That Devon County Council use its convening powers to host and coordinate a county wide Devon Housing Forum with all key partners to develop a range of effective local and grassroots solutions to help solve Devon’s housing crisis, including key workers such as nurses, care workers, teachers, hospitality and retail sector and those serving in the blue light services.

• Work with all our local Members of Parliament to ensure that new Secretary of State for Housing and Local Government fully understands the collective housing challenges that we urgently face in Devon, and to secure the necessary powers and resources through the Devon Devolution Deal to make significant and lasting progress to provide people in Devon with somewhere affordable, safe and secure to call home.

  The motion is proposed by Cllr Rob Hannaford is seconded by Cllr Danny Barnes.