What about those waiting for homes?
The headline from the Shropshire Star on July 3 ‘’ – what does this mean for those on the housing waiting lists across the county?
If the properties are sold off to the private sector it will mean there will be less social and affordable rented accommodation.
Once sold off to the private sector then when the houses become empty the speculators will move in and sell the properties at inflated prices and rents will go up so that those who receive housing benefit will have to go back to council for an increase in benefits paid.
Shropshire Council already has a problem with providing affordable accommodation. As quoted in the article once sold it is only a short term fix for the council and will be gone forever. We are already witnessing in the national news that the tragedy in the Grenfell block of flats in London is causing a major problem for the council.
Some are calling for that council to be taken over by others as not fit for purpose. Perhaps we should do the same in Shropshire, after all back in 2015 the council started to make cuts here. Then some bright individual in 2016 remembered that there would be an election this year and so a lot of the proposed cuts were reversed.
Watch out when they start to look at the council tax for the 2018/19 year, a lot of those cuts will be back on the table.
Mr J M Smithers, Ludlow
