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Gideon Amos calls for council housing support


Gideon Amos MP

Gideon Amos, MP for Taunton and Wellington, spoke in Parliament yesterday (Monday), calling on the Government to provide support to allow more council houses to be built.


Mr Amos said that more than 10,000 people were on the waiting list for housing in Taunton, Wellington and Somerset as a whole with “many of them in really desperate conditions”.


He asked: “Will the Secretary of State allow councils to borrow at low rates of interest to build the council houses we need across the country and support councils like Somerset, pioneering the first council houses in some parts of the county for a generation?”


Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook replied that the Government understood the pressure local authorities were under.


“We are reviewing our position and will make further announcements in due course,” he added.


Afterwards, Mr Amos said: “The fact is, the council is just not allowed and not able to build the council housing that Taunton and Wellington needs and that Somerset needs.


“The Minister has promised to bring forward measures to make it easier for councils to build houses.


“I'll be watching that closely to see what they're coming out with and challenging them again to make sure it really happens.”


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