Reading West housing in election spotlight

There are about 6,000 people on the housing register in Reading

Reading West's parliamentary candidates have been discussing housing targets.

Labour's Naz Sarkar said there are 6,000 people on the housing register in the town and the party has house- building targets that have to be met.

The Conservative's Alok Sharma said his party would scrap targets and allow residents to choose where they want their houses to be built.

Liberal Democrat Daisy Benson raised concerns about an "over reliance on developer-led housing".

Their comments came after a BBC Radio Berkshire listener, who is a long-term resident in Theale, queried plans for more than 300 homes to be built there.

He claimed Theale residents already experienced "congestion, pollution and noise" generated by motorists "driving through [the town] to get to the M4".

Finding a solution

Mr Sarkar said: "Let's be honest about this, we do need to build more housing.

"Obviously the developers have got their part to play in making sure the infrastructure, including roads, including schools is made better.

"We need to do better - there are things that we have done well and there are things we need to improve on and house building is one of them."

Under the South East Plan, which runs until 2026, the target for Reading is 12,220 new homes.

Figures for April 2009, show 2,256 homes have so far been built.

Last month, Prudential's property arm, Prupim, revealed it had scrapped its plans to build 7,500 homes on a flood plain in Kennet Meadows, south west of Reading.

It said the development was not viable after taking advice from Defra and the Environment Agency, which opposed the plan on flood-risk grounds.

About 1,500 people signed a petition against the proposal, which was taken to the House of Commons.

The Kennet Valley Park development would have been built on a floodplain

Mr Sharma said: "I think what is completely wrong about the current housing system is that we have these 'top down' targets being imposed on local communities.

"What we want to do, if we come into power, is to take those away.

"If local people get a chance to decide, I think you will find they will act very responsibly, they will actually act in the best interests of their community."

Ms Benson said money should be spent on improving the town's infrastructure.

She said: "We would invest money in actually expanding the railway network rather than on new road building schemes and road widening schemes, which is environmentally damaging.

"There is a huge demand for housing, I agree with Naz - we need to invest in improving the private rented sector for people who cannot afford to get on the [property] ladder.

"[But] there is an over-reliance on developer-led housing which means we have an over-supply of one and two bedroom executive flats and not enough family housing."

Green Party candidate Adrian Windisch said: "We have a policy on empty homes - getting them back into use. But that isn't enough for the problem.

"I suggest the empty office blocks, there are some that have been empty for five or six years.

"There are people with second homes when other people do not have a place to live."

Bruce Hay, the UK Independence Party candidate, was unavailable for comment.

The candidates standing for election so far in Reading West are: Naz Sarkar - Labour, Alok Sharma - Conservatives, Daisy Benson - Liberal Democrats, Adrian Windisch - Green and Bruce Hay - UKIP.