'More houses' needed in North East Somerset to meet demand

Housing is an issue for all five parliamentary candidates standing for North East Somerset

A lot more homes are needed in North East Somerset to meet demand, general election candidates have said.

UKIP's Ernie Blaber said more high-rise flats should be built and Labour's Todd Foreman said new developments should be "shared round the constituency".

Liberal Democrat Wera Hobhouse and Katy Boyce, Green, said property investors should be tackled to free up housing.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, Conservative, said the council's core strategy of building on brown field sites was "very workable".

'Stop landlord subsidies'

Ms Hobhouse said capital investment needs to be "made available" for affordable housing.

"We are in a housing crisis. People who can afford it are snapping up houses and renting them out at an extortionist prices," she said.

Ms Boyce, said she wanted to "stop giving subsidies to private landlords".

She said: "What it's about is making sure that people see houses as homes and not as a way to turn a profit."

Mr Foreman said although people wanted to "preserve our green belt", more homes had to be built.

"Development has to be shared round the constituency," he said.

"Some places have been asked to take more than their share."

Mr Blaber said high-rise flats "could accommodate more people in a small area" and protect the green belt.

But Mr Rees-Mogg said the council's core strategy "allows for a lot of housing to be built on brown field sites".

"The old MoD sites in Bath and the Cadbury's factory in Keynsham will provide thousands of houses between them," he said.

The candidates for the constituency are:

Ernie Blaber, UKIP

Katy Boyce, Green

Todd Foreman, Labour

Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat

Jacob Rees-Mogg, Conservative