Leeds City Council is to build 5000 Council Houses. The First in the city for 30 Years

Bloody Hell. This is simply amazing. Now as even the official press coverage admits the details need a little work but the Lib Dem/Conservative minority administration has announced firm plans, starting next financial year, to build the first new Council homes in the City for 30 years. A clear target of 5000 new properties has been set.

There is no greater failure by the political class over the last 30 years than the failure to see the Housing crisis coming and do anything about it. At least recently we have started to talk about it but, in Leeds at any rate, in terms of affordable Housing. In my cynical experience of the planning process this means slightly-less-unaffordable housing. I'm light years from being a command and control Socialist but we have a chronic shortage of social rented units in Leeds. Any Councillor of any Ward of any Party will tell of the sheer human misery of people stuck on waiting lists and the market in its current shape will never deliver for them. I hope in due course some of the 5000 eventual new Council houses will be "Right to Buy" ed. As long as we can build some more. I think ownership of the family home is a perfectly reasonable aspiration. However the current asset bubble has made ownership a fetish and one that is beyond a frightening number of people.

This is the most exciting political development in the City for years. Before anyone points out that press releases don't achieve anything I know. Making this work will be a huge political challenge. However this isn't a "wiggle room" announcement. Its clear, there's a firm target and a timescale.

Now we have to deliver.