The council has been slammed for not delivering enough affordable housing to meet the need in Reading.
Green councillors have seized on data which shows that Reading Borough Council has delivered just a third of the affordable housing the town needs.
According to the Berkshire Strategic Housing Market Assessment, Reading needs 406 new affordable homes delivered every year for residents in need.
Yet just 135 affordable homes were built last year, which is down from the 178 built in the previous year.
Councillor Dave McElroy (Green, Redlands) said: “We have a housing crisis in Reading. On affordable housing, the council just isn’t delivering.
“Time and time again we see the majority Labour planning committee wave through new developments with little affordable housing.
READ MORE: Council called out over lack of affordable homes in Reading
“The Conservative government’s policies have definitely made matters worse, but it is disappointing to see how happily Reading Labour goes about implementing the Tory agenda.
“The council meekly asked the developers of our own old Civic site for 30 per cent of the flats built to be affordable.
“Their policy used to be for at least 50 per cent of homes to be affordable.”
The old civic site will be transformed into the Minster Quarter, providing more than 600 homes by developers McLaren Living.
Reading Greens criticised the Labour administration for demanding that 30 per cent of the development be affordable housing, rather than 50 per cent.
While the council did have a policy of 50 per cent affordable housing in its 2008 Core strategy, that was dropped to 30 per cent in 2015 as developers were often able to provide reports that 50 per cent affordable housing would be undeliverable.
READ MORE: Clash in Reading over affordable homes at 600 flat Minster Quarter project
Cllr McElroy continued: “The longer Labour have been in power the worse this issue has got.
“Having a safe, warm, affordable home is so important to the people of Reading. Our key workers need a place to call home. The teachers, nurses, posties and everyone else who keeps our town running deserve a home they can afford.
“We need policies designed to deliver for the people of Reading, and politicians willing to see them through. Green councillors will keep working for a fairer, greener town.”
The figures for how many affordable homes have been built come from the council’s Planning Annual Monitoring Report 2022/23.
In response, Jason Brock, the council leader said: “Labour has a good record of delivering affordable housing for Reading residents, through a combination of contributions from private developments and the Council’s own extensive home building programme.
“The Green group on the Council on the other hand have consistently voted against potential new affordable homes at Planning Committee. Indeed, the Greens opposed well over 100 affordable homes in recent times.
READ MORE: Labour administration push for more family-sized and affordable housing in Reading
“The Council has also had to contend with the Conservative government’s planning framework which continues to frustrate our ability to secure the levels of affordable housing we want from private developers.
“The council made a pragmatic decision more than 10 years ago to reduce the aspirational target of 50 per cent social housing in new developments to a more realistic 30 per cent.
“This means many new housing schemes have been delivered, providing more affordable homes and maximising funding from developers to improve local infrastructure for residents.
“We are also leading the way through our own programme of delivering 400 additional Council homes by 2025.
“Reading’s Local Plan includes a commitment to maximising the supply of affordable housing from all sources, while the Greens appear to have their heads in the clouds and clinging on to policies which would see fewer homes built for our families and essential key workers.”
Cllr Brock added that the council recently opened 15 affordable key worker flats at the Arthur Hill site.
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