Ruth Cadbury MP welcomes Hounslow Council decision to buy back over 500 council homes

Ruth Cadbury MP has welcomed the recent announcement by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan that Hounslow Council will receive new funding to buy back over 500 council homes. This funding program will see the council purchase 555 homes that once belonged to the council. 25 of these new homes will go to care leavers in the Borough and another 20 will go to refugees who’ve arrived from Afghanistan.

Speaking after the announcement Ruth said,

‘‘I’m delighted that Sadiq Khan and Hounslow Council are working together to buy back over 500 council homes. The historic decision by the Thatcher Government to force councils to sell council homes saw 36% of council homes end up in the hands of private landlords, and local councils were left powerless to stop the sell-off.

This is why it’s so good to see both the Mayor of London and Hounslow Council taking bold action. This move will make a huge difference for those on the housing waiting list locally and comes on top of Hounslow councils ongoing work to build more council homes. I know from listening to local residents that the housing crisis is having a big impact on so many people, and this is a welcome step to tackling this crisis.

I’m particularly pleased that some of these new homes will go to care leavers locally which will help them as they navigate further education and work.

I also welcome that 20 of the homes will go to refugees arriving from Afghanistan. I know that many people locally want to see us doing everything possible to support those forced to flee from the Taliban such as former Army translators, human rights activists and many other civic figures.’’