A COMMITMENT to deliver hundreds of much-needed affordable homes for rent and sale in South Lakeland has been rubber-stamped by councillors.

Members of South Lakeland District Council agreed a new housing strategy for the next nine years, with 24 councillors supporting the proposals and 15 abstaining.

The strategy sets out how SLDC will address several key issues:

L The need for more affordable housing

L Demand for new market housing to meet the demands of a growing economy

L Need for older person’s accommodation and services due to growing ageing population

L Retaining young people in South Lakeland

L Tackling fuel poverty and poor energy efficiency standards in private housing stock

L Poor housing standards in the private rented housing sector

L Bringing long-term empty homes back into use

L Ensuring the most vulnerable people are assisted with their housing problems to avoid homelessness

It includes enabling the completion of 1,000 new affordable homes for rent and 750 new affordable homes for sale.

Councillors heard that the vision outlined in the new housing strategy is to: "Enable the provision of quality new homes and raise the standard of existing homes to meet housing needs, improve health, support economic growth and create sustainable communities."

The strategy sets out in detail how the council will continue to build on the progress made in these areas in the past few years and how it will work with partners, including the national park authorities, Cumbria County Council and health and third sector organisations, to realise that vision.

Cllr Jonathan Brook, SLDC’s portfolio holder for Housing and Innovation, said: “Our young people need housing they can afford and our growing number of elderly residents need specialist housing.

“This strategy sets out the steps that the council will take over the next decade to ensure that local people have access to the homes that they need and to help the local economy to grow. It also forms part of the foundation of the council’s wider ambitions to promote wider economic growth both in Cumbria and in the Morecambe Bay sub-region.’’

Cllr Vivienne Rees, who represents Ambleside and Grasmere, said: “This is not something dry, this will be something for the people and the communities, and it will help us.”

But Cllr Ben Berry, representing Windermere Applethwaite and Troutbeck, abstained from the vote and said: “We need a plan for new housing but not the one that has been put into effect."