Dave McElroy, Green Party parliamentary candidate for Reading Central, today joined with campaigners concerned at major shortage of affordable housing and high rents.

MP candidate Councillor Dave McElroy represents Redlands Ward, which has the largest concentration of houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) in the town.

On Reading Council the Greens are the second largest party with more councillors than the Conservatives and Lib Dems combined.

Above: At the recent council elections only Labour and Greens elected councillors in Reading Central.

Addressing supporters, Mr McElroy said: “Inflation is supposed to be coming down, but in places we’re still seeing rent rises of 10%!

“Overheated local housing markets are squeezing out the key workers that our communities depend on, whilst loads of homes stand empty and not enough affordable homes are being built.

“To make things worse, we have the most poorly insulated homes in Europe, so energy bills are sky-high.

“Greens would take the pressure off tenants by giving local authorities the power to impose rent controls on the private rental sector. We’d aim to increase social housing by 150,000 homes a year over time, partly by bringing empty homes back into use.

“We’d make sure control is with local authorities, not the developers, and they’ll be able to insist that new developments have access to public services and green spaces.

“And we’d push for a national insulation programme. The cheapest energy is the energy you don’t have to pay for!

“Through a combination of incompetence (1) and an obsessive devotion to putting developers rather than residents first (2), Labour have failed on this in Reading, and it’s hard to imagine they won’t fail nationally.”

Contact:

Dave McElroy (07557 987710)

Notes for editors

1 www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/24373989.blunder-means-1000-flats-reading-plan-will-go-ahead
2 www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/24363256.1-000-homes-built-reading-year

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