19,600 homes?

The Council's Conservative run cabinet decision to allow 19,600 new homes in Maidstone Borough is as astonishing as it is sad. An increase of a third is simply not justified.

Even more worrying is that this assessment includes 13,000 homes that are not classed as 'affordable'. The average house price in the town is already £230k, while average pay is £28k - i.e. house prices are on average 8 times higher that earnings for single people. It seems that most homes are already unaffordable.

There is an urgent need to build truly affordable homes for young families and older people needing to downsize. There is no need to build huge homes for the rich.

To add to this, the question of where these homes will go will be answered soon. With the local Lib Dems and Labour backing the Tory move to lift the local ban on greenfield site building last year, I have real fears for places such as Fant Farm.