THE councillor responsible for housing at Cornwall Council has defended the record of delivery by himself and the current leadership of Cornwall Council.

Cllr Olly Monk, the portfolio holder for housing at the unitary authority instead pointed fingers at the previous Liberal Democrat-Independent coalition for the reasons for the challenges faced by Cornwall Council in securing a plentiful supply of affordable housing.

It comes as the shadow cabinet member for homes attacked the local authority’s Conservative administration after Cornwall dropped to seventh in the country for delivering affordable homes after being in the top three. New government figures reveal that Cornwall Council delivered 731 affordable properties last year.

Independent councillor Andrew Mitchell said: “This Conservative administration is the gift that keeps giving nothing to the people of Cornwall. Every year of the last administration Cornwall was either first at affordable housing delivery or in the top three councils.” However, the Conservative councillor currently in charge of housing has put the blame squarely on the previous Lib Dem / Independent administration.

Cllr Mitchell added: “This feeble and inadequate performance is a reflection of just how unsuccessful across all areas of council services these Tories have been. Cornwall as the fifth largest authority in England should be performing so much better. Newham and Barnet councils led the way at 1,178 and 1,158 affordable homes delivered respectively.”

With the council election coming up on May 1, he said: “If the Independents are in control of Cornwall Council come May, we will truly prioritise housing. Homes for local families is a must and we are failing all those 20,000 residents on the waiting list and those currently spending years in emergency housing while paying out over £10 million. It just doesn’t make sense. The number of empty properties also officially increased by 135 and all this on top of the Conservatives voting to sell off social housing which it owns. You couldn’t make it up!”.

Cllr Olly Monk, the Conservative portfolio holder for housing, said: “Cornwall Council has continued to deliver a high number of affordable homes despite pressures to deliver housing in the current climate. House building across the UK has stalled due to inflation of building costs, high interest rates and an inadequate legacy of pipeline due to the previous administration’s lack of vision.

“We all know it takes four to five years from the initial concept of a housing development to bring it through to actual completion. What we are now seeing is the total incompetence of the previous administration’s decisions and plans coming through in these numbers.

“This Conservative administration’s efforts to bring a pipeline of more affordable housing for the people of Cornwall will start to show in the coming years. The people of Cornwall have a choice in May – they can continue with a strong steady delivery of the right homes in the right places that local people can afford to buy or rent, or go back to the shambolic, lethargic incompetence of a Lid Dem / Independent run council.”