The leader of Rochdale Borough Council, Councillor Richard Farnell – also the new Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) planning and housing portfolio holder – is calling for more to be done to enable extra house building in the region.
A new report by the Resolution Foundation singled out Greater Manchester as having the sharpest decline in home ownership in England.
The report says that home ownership in England has fallen to its lowest level in 30 years – the proportion of home owners in Greater Manchester also dropped from 72% in April 2003 to 58% in 2016.
Cllr Farnell called it “a damning indictment of national housing policy”.
“Home ownership should not be put beyond the reach of a whole generation, because it has traditionally been viewed as giving people a real stake in society,” said Cllr Farnell.
“Notwithstanding the importance of high-quality rental property, we need more action and investment from the government to reverse this worrying decline.
“Greater Manchester authorities are doing what they can within their current restraints – but housing policy needs an urgent review to address the problems that are leaving so many people frozen out of the housing market.”
Cllr Farnell added:
“We will continue to work hard to address these issues – and to press the government to do more, particularly to ensure the right levels of funding are in place.”
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