Everyone has been hit, but those with the least have, as ever, been hit most. Food prices: up. Energy costs: up. Rent: up.
Do you know rents in Folkestone & Hythe are rising faster than almost anywhere else in the country?
"It cost £967 a month to rent the average private home in Folkestone and Hythe during the 12 months to February 2024, according to the latest data from the government’s Housing Market Indices Team. That is a 19.8 per cent increase from February 2023 when the average private rent was £807 a month. Only one other local authority in the whole of Great Britain has seen a larger increase in the past 12 months - Brent in London at 20 per cent." Kent Online
Some of that is because this is a great place to live, and people can see that. But with limited affordable options, and no way for many to buy their own place, soaring rents hurt local families.
Rent is a matter of supply and demand. The most straightforward way to tackle this problem is to build more homes. Our party is committed to new social home building projects, including new council homes. We need to build more affordable homes for our communities. Without those, we will not slow rents increasing way faster than incomes. Developments like Otterpool Park and Ship Street in Folkestone need to deliver thousands of affordable new homes for the area over the coming years.
We are also committed to help people with the cost of living crisis. No-one should have to rely on food banks. Charities locally like the Rainbow Centre are doing incredible work supporting thousands of people, whether homeless, hungry, or both. But in 2024, they simply shouldn't have to. How are we living in a time that working families need to rely on food banks to make ends nearly meet?
Right now, households are still having to decide between paying for eating or heating. Energy prices have come down a bit, but are still much higher than they were in 2021. The Government support to all familes has ended. To tackle the dilemma, the Liberal Democrats would implement a proper, one-off windfall tax on the super profits of oil and gas producers and traders. It will be used to relieve the burden brought by the energy bills.