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PLANS by the Government to help local authorities build more affordable housing are inadequate, say council bosses.
Under proposals recently announced by Housing Minister Margaret Beckett, councils will be able to keep all the rental income from any homes they build.The extra money could free councils to invest in the building of more council houses. Mrs Beckett said she wanted local authorities to play a bigger role in the delivery of council housing.
But Steve Warran, head of housing services for Exeter City Council, said the proposed changes would have little effect and do not go far enough.
In Exeter, one in 10 households is on the housing waiting list, equating to more than 5,000 families.
Across Devon, seven per cent, or nearly 22,000, households were on the waiting list for social housing in 2008. In East Devon, 7.3 per cent or 4,132 households are on the waiting list, while in Mid Devon the figure is 2,739, representing nine per cent of all households.
In Teignbridge there are 3,334 families waiting for a home, which is six per cent of households.
The numbers are set to rise as the economic downturn worsens.
Mr Warran said: "We welcome the proposals in principle, but it is difficult to see this as a long-term solution. A return to the mass council house building of the 50s and 60s is not going to happen
"At the moment 30 per cent of the rent a tenant pays the council goes back to central government, and that causes us difficulty in terms of being able to reinvest in housing. But being able to keep that extra 30 per cent of rent for a new property is not going to manage and maintain that property for the long term, so we won't build more houses just because of these proposals. It is not economically viable."
All council housing rents are collected locally and a proportion is given to the government for redistribution.
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