Infrastructure is just as important as building homes

I HAD the opportunity to raise a question during Prime Minister's Questions last week. I used my few seconds to ask for a meeting with the Housing Minister and call on Homes England to help deliver social and affordable housing, with the infrastructure to go with it, in Truro and Falmouth.

- Jayne Kirkham MP

In Cornwall the housing crisis is plain to see. In the past five years the number of households in temporary accommodation has risen by 265% to more than 900 and the cost of housing people in temporary or emergency accommodation is unsustainable. There are 27,461 households on Cornwall's social housing waiting list. Lots of these people are living in uncertainty, pushed into overcrowded conditions or forced to move far from work, school or family support to find accommodation. This reflects the challenges of Cornwall's rural nature and the deep inequalities in a housing system that doesn’t have enough affordable and social housing.