You may see in the next few weeks a statement from the Conservatives that they have wiped 3000 people off the Housing Waiting List, and are claiming this as a success story. I turn a blind eye to most Tory untruths, there are so many, but this one is so crass that I couldn’t let it lie.

Here is the truth. Back in 2013, there were 4,500 people on Teignbridge’s Housing Waiting List, people were ranked in Priority Need in 5 bands A to E. What the Conservatives actually did was remove everyone in band E from the list, 1756 people. None of those 1756 people moved house, or had their requests to down size, upsize or move area, fulfilled, they were just removed from the list and told they couldn’t apply for a move any more. Shelter commenting on the proposals said. “If you cut the waiting list and block out some people from applying then you’re really denying that there’s a problem.”

The proposal was voted on at Full Council at Teignbridge where we the Lib Dems spoke against and voted against this proposal. But because the Conservatives on the Council at the moment, have a majority they voted it through. It is not a success story, far from it, all it has done is remove hope from many of those looking to improve their housing situation. Cllr Jeremy Christophers was quoted after the decision was made saying, “There is a great pressure on providing suitable housing, including social, and priority needs to be given to those who are most in need. Our changes are aimed at making sure this happens, rather than encouraging false hope and large waiting lists.” So rather than dealing with the great pressure on the housing waiting list, by sorting out the problem, the Conservatives instead decided to remove over 1700 people from the list.

If the Lib Dems run the Council we will have different housing priorities and will prioritise those most in need. But first we need a majority on Teignbridge District Council. Put simply we need you to elect more Lib Dem Cllrs than Conservative ones, so that we can win the votes at Council over the next 4 years. At the local elections on May 2^nd please use all your votes to elect Lib Dem Cllrs. If you don’t vote, or you vote Conservative or for a minor Party then we could have another 4 years of Conservative rule and untruths.

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