Reform blasts Shropshire Council's handling of housing system's 'graveyard of broken dreams'
Reform UK has blasted Shropshire Council for what it says is “a lack of urgency” to sort out the county’s housing system crisis.
As of July 1, 7,222 households were on the social housing waiting list in the county. The authority and local registered providers use Shropshire HomePoint to advertise social housing that is available and enable households to choose which properties to bid on each week.
Households are placed into ‘bands’ from one to seven depending on their housing need using criteria in the Shropshire allocations policy. This was last updated in 2022 and implemented the following year following an IT upgrade of the system.
The new Liberal Democrat administration says it has set a ‘clear focus’ on housing to ensure residents with needs receive support and help to secure affordable homes.
To deliver improvements, a review of the policy and the wider housing strategy is to be carried out in the autumn. The draft policy will then be shared with residents during a formal consultation ahead of presentation to full council to be signed off.
However, Reform UK councillor Harry Hancock-Davies, who is part of the council’s Housing Supervisory Board, has accused the administration of “a complete lack of urgency” and asked “where is the plan to get us out of this mess?”
“We’re told there’s a review ‘later this year’, and we’re promised a new strategy ‘in due course’,” said Councillor Hancock-Davies (Battlefield).
“The administration says it’s working on a housing strategy for the next four to five years. I welcome that and I will look at it closely when it’s released for public consultation and so will the people of Shropshire.
“But strategy means nothing if there’s no action behind it. People need answers now, not in due course.
“HomePoint, our so-called housing register, has become a postcode lottery, drowning in red tape, with banding rules no-one understands and decisions that feel arbitrary at best.
“People don’t know where they stand, how to move forward, or why others have jumped the queue.
“We need to restore trust, clean up the system and put local families first. This list represents a failure to meet our responsibilities to those waiting on the register.
“Right now, Shropshire’s housing list isn’t a place of hope but it’s a graveyard of broken promises.”
