Folkestone and Hythe Need a Fair Deal for Housing and Communities

People’s lives are shaped by the communities they live in - if communities thrive, individuals will too. 

But local government has been left underfunded, underpowered, and unable to tackle many of the problems communities face today. 

One of these problems is housing. 

Many people struggle to buy or rent a good quality home and homelessness remains shamefully high. The Government regularly misses its housing targets and when new homes are built, they’re often energy-inefficient, leading to large bills.

We know in Folkestone & Hythe rents 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

We need more rented homes, for local families to live in, now.

Rural communities also face their own problems, from the prevalence of second homes, to a lack of public transport and broadband connectivity. 

We must empower local communities by strengthening local government and resolving the housing crisis. 

Tackling the housing crisis

We will ensure everyone has access to housing that meets their needs - somewhere they can truly call home. 

We will: 

✅ Build at least 150,000 new social homes a year out of our new homes target, giving local authorities the powers to end the right to buy in their areas, and require them to have a landlord licensing scheme. 

✅ Ensure councils can deliver housing at a fair price. We will reform the Land Compensation Act so councils can buy land for housing at its current use value, rather than its potential use. 

✅ Promote brownfield site development through financial incentives and ensure these projects include affordable and social housing. 

✅ Introduce a ‘use-it-or-lose-it planning permission’ for developers who fail to develop land that has been given full planning permission. 

✅ Build 10 new garden cities to help tackle the housing crisis. 

✅ Improve standards for new homes so they are warm, cheap to heat and produce zero emissions. 

✅ Ensure leaseholders don’t have to pay towards removing dangerous cladding from their buildings. 

To strengthen renters’ rights, we will: 

✅ Ban no-fault evictions for renters in the private sector and make longer tenancies the default. 

✅ Give social housing tenants more powers over the management of their homes and estates. 

Empowering local communities

We will give local communities the power to improve their areas and the lives of their residents. 

We will: 

✅ Allow communities to limit the number of second homes and holiday lets. 

✅ Enhance powers on community assets so local authorities can protect vital infrastructure. 

✅ Grant local authorities greater authority and resources to reduce emissions in their area. 

✅ Improve connectivity, particularly broadband and mobile, starting with the most underserved areas. 

✅ End top-down council reorganisations and the imposition of elected mayors on communities which don’t want them. 

✅ Address the existing £4 billion funding gap for local government and foster consensus on the long-term funding of social care. 

That’s the fair deal for housing and communities that we’ll be fighting for at the General Election.