Lib Dems call for a halt on London Labour Council’s plan to buy up Liverpool Housing

• Liverpool Lib Dems have called out Enfield Council’s plan as unfair on Liverpool 
• Liverpool Labour accused of sitting on their hands whilst their southern colleagues buy up Liverpool’s housing
• “London should not look to Liverpool as the fix for their housing problem” says Lib Dem Leader

Cllr Carl Cashman has called on Labour run Enfield Council to reconsider plans to purchase 28 homes in Liverpool to be used as temporary accommodation.

The Lib Dems have said that Liverpool needs to sort out its own temporary accommodation crisis before supporting elsewhere in the country. They accused Labour politicians of sitting on their hands and hoping that no one would notice, whilst their colleagues in Enfield relocated residents from London to Liverpool.

At the weekend, The Guardian reported that London councils have started looking beyond their own boundaries to resolve their temporary accommodation issues. This included plans from the Labour-run Enfield Council to move homeless people from the borough to Liverpool for relocation.

Liverpool Lib Dems called this ‘outrageous’, arguing that it is depriving local people of housing in their own community and could add an extra burden to Liverpool’s balance book. They have urged Enfield Council to find a solution closer to home that doesn’t require their residents to relocate to the other side of the country.

Cllr Carl Cashman, Leader of the Opposition, said:

“In Liverpool, we’ve already got a temporary accommodation bill for our residents - it’s ballooned in size, now it’s costing the taxpayers millions every year.

“This isn’t kicking the can down the road, this is kicking it across the other side of the country. This is not good for people being moved nor the communities they are being moved to. Imagine the Council telling you they’ll house you but only if you move over 170 miles away, that’s awful and it’s going to add even more upheaval to people’s lives.

“We need the Labour Government to listen to Councils. They are being crushed under the weight of mounting costs and we are struggling to get by. We need national funding to launch local initiatives to tackle homelessness in our towns and cities - not just Liverpool but across the country. That starts with providing social housing for those that need it in our communities - something the Lib Dems have long called for in Liverpool.”