Miserly in their attitude before

SO THE Tories are cutting the money for affordable housing? I am not surprised - they have been miserly in their attitude before but I am still utterly disappointed by it. Not for myself - I have a home - but for all the people on the housing needs register who don't. What will happen now to the young families who need a home but have very little money? Or the youngsters with learning difficulties whom the previous council was going to help? Well now they will have to wait longer - maybe too long for some, and they will never get a decent home of their own. When I was the Lib Dem councillor responsible for housing, we planned to invest the money from the housing transfer in new affordable housing, investing £2million every year up to 2012. This would have more than doubled the annual provision of new homes (mostly for rent) from 55 annually to around 120 every year. This money from the council can lever in private finance and Government money up to £30million which stretches the amount or homes it is possible to provide. But the Tories are throwing this away - they are cutting the spending on new affordable homes for those in need from £12.5 million to £8 million. This means that at least 250 fewer homes will not be available for those in need on low incomes. Put this in real human terms, depending whether the applicants are singles or couples, 500 adults and perhaps 250 children will not get a new home. Families will have to stay cramped in a private flat until the strain is just too much or forced to live in overcrowded conditions, staying with their parents until life becomes impossible. In the Promises to Tenants: The Money from Transfer, which gave the council a one-off opportunity to create something really good, we said it would be used for affordable housing. The Tories, aided by some Independent councillors have let the tenants down and the needy residents of North Somerset by going back on this promise.Isabel Cummings - Rock Road, Yatton