Watch my speech about boosting affordable rural housing

The Liberal Democrat led South Hams District Council is supporting a community housing project which will create 39 new energy-efficient, 100% social rented homes for people with a local connection.

Today, at a Westminster Hall debate, I highlighted this project because it is exactly the kind of development project we need to see in South Devon and beyond.

The Government has made a lot of noise about their intention to build over a million homes.

But I’ve repeatedly said that simply building new homes won’t solve our housing crisis in South Devon.

In fact, studies have shown its impact on housing prices will be minimal.

We can’t recruit enough staff for our key services, and local people are being pushed away.

What we need is development projects that are designed to serve local need, and here in South Devon, that means more social housing available to buy or rent so we can address the recruitment crisis in our vital public services.