NEW LABOUR & CO-OP HOUSING Lead, Councillor Leigh Farrow will today condemn the Tory-led Government for scrapping funding for private sector housing renewal. This will impact upon energy efficiency in the private sector, as well as vulnerable people and local contractors- who benefitted from the scheme. The scheme also helped cut costs in the long run.

The previous Labour Government granted over £23million over 3 years, one of the biggest allocations in the country, to the Brighton & Hove and East Sussex Together (BEST) programme for private sector housing renewal, to improve the living conditions of vulnerable households in the private sector.

At a council meeting today, Councillor Farrow will emphasise how the money has gone to improve thousands of private sector homes and how local businesses were successfully utilised in carrying out key areas of improvements, such as: home energy efficiency, bringing empty homes back into use and adaptations to allow vulnerable people to live more independently.

Councillor Farrow will also highlight findings that adaptations in particular demonstrated significant cost benefits, saving thousands of pounds in home care costs and hospital admissions. In addition, making homes more energy efficient saved money on bills, reducing fuel poverty as well as carbon emissions.

Brighton & Hove Labour & Co-operative Housing Lead, Councillor Leigh Farrow, said:

“This is a short sighted cut by a short sighted government. The previous Labour Government’s private sector renewal funding helped improve thousands of homes- helping hundreds of vulnerable people live more independently, providing jobs for local people, making homes more energy efficient, reducing carbon emissions and reducing fuel poverty.”

“I also urge the Green Council who have promised to ‘resist’ government cuts to do all they can to honour their pledge.”