Northern MP's call for own housing target

The north of England should have its own target for house-building, a group of cross-party northern MPs has argued in a letter to Housing Secretary James Brokenshire.

Twenty-five Conservative and Labour signatories, including Chair of the Northern Powerhouse parliamentary group Caroline Flint and shadow planning minister Roberta Blackman-Woods, called for a more ambitious regional plan for delivering homes across the north.

They demanded a new "pan-northern scrutiny body" to help deliver "a regional housing target that is reflective of northern need".

The plans are drawn from proposals by Homes for the North, an alliance of the 17 largest northern housing associations and also include measures to help areas which have been left behind by current funding arrangements.

Conservative signatories include Yorkshire MPs Andrea Jenkyns and Kevin Hollinrake and MP for Carlisle John Stevenson.

Carol Matthews, the Chair of Homes for the North who sent the letter, said the cross-party cooperation on the issue indicated the importance of addressing housing problems in the north.

"The fact that MPs from opposing parties have come together with one voice on northern housing shows the strength of feeling there is to get to grips with the housing crisis here.

"We believe that we have set out a way forward for a radical increase in the output of affordable housing and we are asking the Secretary of State to work with us and northern MPs to deliver the plans."

MPs representing every region of northern England signed the letter to Mr Brokenshire, who they asked to meet with to discuss how they could work together in implementing the measures and "deliver a more prosperous north".