Call for action on housing crisis made at Labour conference by Horsham delegate

Carol Hayton and David Hide, Horsham Labour Party members at their party's annual conference in Liverpool

Speaking on the main stage, Carol Hayton described how there are more than a million families stuck on housing waiting lists and more than 79,000 households in temporary accommodation.

She called for urgent delivery of 100,000 council homes a year, an end to right-to-buy, a rebalancing of the housing budget with a significant increase in the national housing grant and ring-fenced surplus public land for council housing.

Ms Hayton said: “We are now asking you, John Healey, you, John McDonnell, Jeremy Corbyn, Sadiq Khan and every Labour mayor, council leader, councillor and party member to take urgent action to resolve this housing crisis so that when we come to conferences when Labour is in Government, we won’t experience the collective shock of seeing so many homeless people sleeping in shop doorways because we will know that everyone is able to access an affordable secure and decent home.”

She also highlighted proposed cuts by West Sussex County Council to housing related support services as it looks to plug a massive budget gap.

Following the announcement the West Sussex housing-related support and homelessness sector has formed a coalition of existing providers to lobby and campaign for funding to be protected.

Meanwhile a demonstration is planned outside Chichester’s County Hall on Thursday September 27 at 10am.

This is before a meeting of the West Sussex Health and Adult Social Care Committee, which will scrutinise proposals.

The Horsham Labour Party has started a petition calling on the Tory administration to abandon the cuts.