Labour and Plaid Cymru councillors have called for Caerphilly County Borough Council to be more aggressive in its pursuit of securing affordable homes for residents.
Speaking at a full council meeting held on Tuesday, July 25, Cllr James Pritchard, who represents the Morgan Jones for Labour, said the local authority should be doing more to reach the affordable home targets for new developments.
He said: “There have been recent planning applications in which I have battled strongly for further affordable housing and I was told by one planning officer that we had to bite their hand off for 5%.
“The target, which we all voted for, is 40% housing in the Caerphilly basin. To be told to be accepting 5% is not on.”
He added: “I think the developers have the whip hand over the council and I think we need to redouble our efforts strongly to get affordable housing back up.”
Cllr Pritchard made the comments during a debate on new planning guidance being adopted by the council.
At present, any affordable housing secured in developments are usually transferred to a housing association or other registered social landlord, either for rental or to be sold through an affordable homes scheme.
The new policy agreed now opens up the possibility that the council itself could take ownership – thereby boosting the number of council homes.
There are currently 5,500 people on the council housing waiting list.
Cllr Pritchard added: “Council housing is back on the agenda. For decades now, council housing has been seen, wrongly in my opinion, as bargain basement housing. We should be proud of council housing in this authority.
“I look forward in the next few years to us potentially reclaiming council houses. Let’s hope so.”
Agreeing with Cllr Pritchard was Plaid Cymru opposition group leader Colin Mann.
Cllr Mann, who represents the Llanbradach ward, said: “There are people in the village that I represent that have had to move quite a few miles north to find something they can afford on what are reasonable wages in this area.
“There is a crunch. Are there houses being provided that are actually affordable for people trying to earn a living in this area?”
Cllr Lindsay Whittle, who represents Penyrheol for Plaid Cymru, said developers were “ripping the council off” and “taking it for a ride.”
Backing what Cllr Pritchard said, Cllr Whittle added: “We are going to have to start being a little bit tougher and say if you don’t achieve this 40% target, your planning permission is refused.”
He added: “The planners are going to have to back us on this.”
Tim Stephens, Development Manager at Caerphilly Council, explained that the 40% target was a target and not a definite figure.
He said: “In each and every case we have to balance the cost of the provision for affordable housing against other costs that may be found on site, such as the clearance of pollution or dealing with any mine workings or any other abnormal costs.”