The Isle of Wight Council has sanctioned the purchase of 18 properties in an Island village, as part of plans to help people “move out of very temporary accommodation”.
On Thursday (March 13), Cabinet members voted to buy four one-bedroom properties, 13 two-bedroom properties and one three-bedroom property on a new development at Godshill’s Scotland Farm, costing £2,780,607.
Deputy leader Cllr Ian Stephens said the dwellings would allow some Islanders to move out of accomodation such as caravans, bed and breakfasts and HMOs.
A cabinet paper signed by Cllr Stephens said County Hall was aiming to invest in property for ‘households in need’ and had a ‘commitment to ensure no child spends more than six weeks in bed and breakfast accommodation’.
The representative for Ryde West told the chamber:
“This is a very noteworthy item, a very positive way forward. The times I’ve walked through that door over the last three years and had a kicking from individuals within this chamber over the lack of housing and accommodation.
“In very very challenging times, with reduced finances coming into the Isle of Wight Council, and a reduction in rentable premises and accommodation outside of the council, I think we’ve taken a bit of a pounding.”
At its Tuesday meeting, council watchdog the Corporate Scrutiny Committee voted to support the purchase.
County Hall’s director of adult social care and housing needs, Laura Gaudion, told the committee who would be living in the properties proposed for purchase:
“They’ll be available for local people – people such as you and I – who for whatever reason find themselves in a position where they’ve lost stability in their accommodation.
“We often see families, people who work in our own organisation as well as other organisations who are made homeless as a result of having been previously in tenanted accommodation that for no fault of their own becomes no longer available.”
Councillor Michael Lilley, the Liberal Democrat representative for Ryde Appley and Elmfield, described the purchase as a “good direction” and told the committee:
“We have far too many people who are in temporary accommodation and often it is not very good.”
Referring to his ward residents, he cited an example of a “family of four” living in a “one-bedroomed bed and breakfast”.
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