TIME TO TACKLE THE 8,000 EMPTY HOMES IN CORNWALL
January 14, 2010 12:00 PM
Steve Gilbert has called for action to tackle empty and unused homes
Steve Gilbert, the Prospective MP for St Austell & Newquay, has today called for action to tackle the 8,000 homes standing empty across Cornwall - with 1,490 in the former Restormel council area alone.
Steve Gilbert said, "With thousands of people across Cornwall waiting for their first home it's a scandal that almost 8,000 homes are standing empty and unused. We need to bring them back into use to meet the real need in our community."
"The cost of bringing these homes back into use is just a fraction of the cost of new build yet the Government is sitting idly by while they fall into disrepair."
The Liberal Democrat candidate spoke out on the day his party set out national plans to bring a quarter of a million empty homes back into use, making homes available for people who need them and creating 65,000 new jobs.
Steve Gilbert added, "This is one element of our economic stimulus package that will generate jobs and help Britain on its way to building a fair, sustainable economy."
At the moment there are over 760,000 empty properties across England which are no longer used as homes but can be brought back into use with some investment. People who own these homes will get a grant or a cheap loan to renovate them so they can be used: grants if the home is for social housing, loans for private use.
The plans form part of the economic stimulus package outlined as a core principle of the Liberal Democrat election manifesto. In the first year of the new Parliament, the party would redirect over £3.6bn of spending to create jobs and build up Britain's infrastructure. In the following years this money will be redirected to other Lib Dem spending priorities and reducing the structural deficit.
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