Oldham Council's housing pledge

At its inaugural Housing Roundtable, Oldham Council has pledged to get 500 new social homes built in the borough over the next five years.

Oldham’s major social housing providers were at the event, along with private landlords, letting agents, developers, housebuilders and charities.

Councillor Arooj Shah, who is also Cabinet Member for Reform and Regeneration, said: “Thousands of social homes have been sold under right to buy, with no government policies in place to replace them. Wages haven’t kept up with house prices or private rents and the cost-of-living crisis has piled even more pressure on. There are more than 7,500 families on the council housing register and thousands of applications waiting to be processed. There are over 500 families in temporary accommodation – and among them are 500 children. This is why we have to do everything in our power to respond locally to this national crisis.”