Sheffield City Council have officially opened a brand new community in Tinsley alongside Together Housing bringing 93 affordable homes to the city.
The Star's Harry Harrison accompanied council leader Tom Hunt as he was toured around the new development.
Coun Hunt told The Star the city needed more affordable homes and discussed measures the new government are taking to ensure the affordable homes are not snapped up and rented out by landlords.
Later in the video, we hear from Peter Denton, CEO of Homes England, about the importance of affordable housing.
The Star's Harry Harrison accompanied council leader Tom Hunt as he was toured around the new development.
Coun Hunt told The Star the city needed more affordable homes and discussed measures the new government are taking to ensure the affordable homes are not snapped up and rented out by landlords.
Later in the video, we hear from Peter Denton, CEO of Homes England, about the importance of affordable housing.
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NewsTranscript
00:00We are here today in Tinsley where we're officially opening a new community.
00:0693 new affordable homes that have been brought forward by Together Housing,
00:10a housing association who've worked to build this new neighbourhood.
00:15Across the city we know that we need more affordable homes and as a city council we're
00:21working hard to increase the supply of affordable homes and so it's terrific to see 93 new two,
00:27three and four bed homes and these homes will change people's lives for the better.
00:32We've all seen the stories over the last few years people are living with this day to day
00:37about how expensive housing has become and so having access to an affordable home means that
00:44people are not priced out of the market, they're able to put down roots, they're able to give their
00:49children a really good strong place to grow up and we know that when people have got good
00:57warm homes it just gives them certainty in other aspects of their life.
01:02What's stopping landlords for example from snapping up affordable homes like these and
01:06then charging rents on them? How do we make sure these are available for people that need an
01:11affordable home? Well the government has announced that they are looking hard right now at the right
01:16to buy discounts. These homes are housing associations so the right to buy rules are
01:20different but we know that it's been a problem in recent decades that the right to buy rules mean
01:27that affordable and social housing has been bought up in the way that you're talking about and has
01:34then become unaffordable homes. Having had meetings with the new housing minister I know and I'm
01:40reassured that this is something that they are looking at to make sure that when we're talking
01:46about planning more affordable homes in the future it's not the equivalent of trying to run a bath
01:51with a plug pulled out. We want to put the plug back in to make sure that we're not losing homes
01:58that are affordable. I think there's a reality that we and it's something I talk about an awful
02:05lot. There's 146,000 kids in temporary accommodation, bed and breakfast, hostels, some of it good
02:13some of it not and that's instability that is ultimately a reflection of
02:20I wouldn't say failure but it's a reflection of where we need to make improvements
02:26and I think you know the Chancellor, the Deputy Prime Minister have talked about a number of
02:31things. Growth, the Chancellor's talked about growth. You can't achieve that without stability, without
02:36creating a stable environment and affordable homes is not just for the individuals that
02:43experience it but it's also for the wider community and society.