Parties' plans for affordable new homes in focus

BOTH Labour and the Conservatives have set out their plans for the building of new affordable homes in Northumberland if they win the looming local elections.

- JAMES ROBINSON

Voters will head to the polls on May 1 to decide who will lead the county council for the next four years.

The Conservatives are currently the largest party on the council with 33 of the local authority's 67 seats, while Labour are the opposition with 18 seats.

Labour say they will build 2,500 affordable homes as well as a further 1,000 for social rent over the next four years.

The Conservatives did not give an exact figure, but pointed to the fact they had built more than 2,300 affordable since 2017. The Tories did not say whether they would build more social housing.

The Government has increased Northumberland’s annual housing target by 200%. The Conservatives have heavily criticised the move, which has seen the figure go up from 549 to 1,649 - although the county has seen 1,552 homes built annually on average since 2016/17.

Under the council's previous target, the county would have to build 2,196 new homes over the next four years.

Under new targets, the county will have to build 6,596.