Bath MP Wera Hobhouse has labelled the award of a £100m+ bonus to the CEO of housebuilder Persimmon ‘disgraceful’, a decision which prompted its Chair to resign.
Other critics have called the award ‘obscene’, ‘corporate looting’ and ‘a reward based on taxpayer subsidy’.
Wera Hobhouse MP said: “We have a social housing crisis in the country, and especially here in Bath. I have been calling on the Conservative government to invest in new social housing, but they have refused.
“Instead they are handing large sums of tax payers’ money to the private sector, in the hopes they will build so called ‘affordable’ housing. Persimmon is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the government’s help-to-buy scheme.
“The scheme helps young professionals onto the housing ladder. What this disgraceful award shows is that the money is going straight into developers’ profits, and not to build houses for the poorest and most vulnerable in our society.
“Let’s be clear. The Tories approved the demolition of parts of the Foxhill estate which will result in the loss of social housing from Bath.
“The Tories nationally have refused to call-in the planning decision. We have a waiting list for social housing in Bath of between 4000 and 5000 people, and it is a scandal that we have nowhere to put them. Instead the government is happy to hand large sums of taxpayers’ cash to the private sector.
“The Tory government could reduce the burden on the taxpayer, by building social homes. This could reduce the amount of housing benefit paid out by the treasury by 40%.
“Instead, we’re listening to news from Shelter, over the weekend, of the hundreds of children that will be homeless this Christmas in our region.
“I keep saying that the private sector will not get us out of our housing crisis, yet the Tories keep throwing tax payers’ money in that direction.
“I will be meeting with the Housing Minister, Alok Sharma, early in the new year to find out whether any of the announcements made in the autumn budget will translate into any new social house building in Bath.
“And I will be asking him to look at where tax payers’ money is ending up, and pointing out that building social housing will reduce the burden on the Treasury.”
