Residents invited to have their say on council housing

Crawley Borough Council is hosting a session of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Council Housing and is inviting new, existing and potential tenants to give their views.

The local evidence event, on Thursday 4 January in the Town Hall, is designed to gather views on council housing from residents, stakeholders, campaigners, councils and politicians.

Five-minute slots for residents and tenants to present their experience of seeking to secure housing in Crawley will take place between 1.30pm to 3pm and 5pm to 6.30pm.

The APPG is seeking views on:

• How important is council housing in addressing local/general housing need?
• If your area has council housing, what condition is it in, what investment is needed, and what is stopping that investment?
• What is your experience of alternative mechanisms to build and manage council (or former council) housing?
• What do you think we need to do to secure a new generation of good-quality council homes? 

The council will set out its own response to this request capturing views of councillors and officers, but the APPG is interested in a wider range of views from the public. The session will be recorded and submitted to the APPG as a separate response. 

Hosting of the event is the latest step in the council’s campaign to amplify housing pressures in the town and the region.

Over the past five years the council’s temporary accommodation costs have increased from £262,000 to £4.85m. A key contributory factor has been the lack of available accommodation for those with housing need. This is a national problem and the APPG presents an opportunity to further highlight these issues. 
 

Any residents who want to attend the inquiry and share their views should email APPG@crawley.gov.uk by 12 noon on 2 January with their preferred session time. Alternatively, call 01293 438000 by 1pm on Friday 22 December.

For more information on the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) visit Matt Western's website.