I share the concerns of many that first-time buyers are being squeezed out in Southend by the university and other factors. The other primary factor is that Southend Council has allowed greedy developers to overrun the town with buy-to-let estates.
Housing is not being built according to need, as it should be. We need new affordable family accommodation to be built by housing associations and trusts.
Price inflation and the shortage of appropriate family accommodation in Southend is in part due to the Conservative administration's mismanagement of planning policy and their love affair with developers.
Martin Terry
Leader of the Independent Group
Southend Council
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