George chooses Affordable Homes as Private Member’s Bill
The MP for the West Cornwall and Isles of Scilly constituency of St Ives, Andrew George, has today announced that he has chosen affordable housing as the subject for a Private Member’s Bill he has an opportunity to introduce to Parliament this Autumn.
Mr George came fourth in the recent ballot for Private Member’s Bills and has been heavily lobbied by a large number of organisations and lobby groups. He also undertook a wide-ranging consultation, including public consultation and a public meeting and invited constituents to respond. He also conducted an opinion poll using a single transferrable vote ballot form for the narrowed down list of fifteen potential bills which he presented to local constituents. He has also been heavily lobbied by organisations outside the constituency, operating at a national basis.
The Affordable Homes Bill will provide Mr George with an opportunity to make greater progress, following the occasion in 2014 when his previous version of the Bill was halted by then-Prime Minister, David Cameron, using a legislative procedure, in spite of the Bill winning the clear support of the majority of MPs at Second Reading (Affordable Homes Bill (Division 47: held on Friday 5 S – Hansard – UK Parliament.)
Andrew said, “Lack of genuinely affordable homes is the most intractable and detrimental problem facing families in my area, just as it is in many other locations. How UK housing works is an outward display of just how wide our widening inequality is.
“The Bill will be drafted wide, with as many options for the Government to adopt as is reasonable and conceivable. From planning mechanisms to make social housing more affordable, to planning controls where the proliferation of second and holiday homes inflate local housing markets and cut housing stock availability for local families.
“I’d like to thank all those constituents who took the trouble to write to me with their ideas and proposals. I received a wide range of thoughtful and important suggestions; choosing which issue to take forward was not an easy decision.
I fully understand that some will feel disappointed that their particular campaign was not selected on this occasion. However, I want to reassure them that I remain committed to those issues and will continue to pursue them through other means in Parliament.”