Candidates standing in tomorrow’s elections have put forward their ideas for addressing Basingstoke’s housing crisis.

Particularly in the wake of the pandemic, Basingstoke risks pricing people out of their hometown, as access to affordable and energy-efficient accommodation remains a top political priority.

From combating loss of land supply, to pledging increased affordable housing, and from the brownfield vs farmland debate to private market prices, the main parties have set out their key housing focusses.

It comes in the fourth and final week of the Gazette’s One Big Question series, where we have asked the people vying for your votes about just some of the most pressing issues for the borough.

This week, we asked: “How do you plan to tackle Basingstoke and Deane’s housing crisis, ensuring there are enough new homes for young people whilst protecting the beauty of the natural environment?”

You can read all of the responses in full by clicking here.

Labour’s Andy McCormick branded it the “ worst housing crisis in living memory”, with average house prices 10 times the median salary and a continued cladding problem on the town’s high-rise flats.

He said that environmentally friendly options would be pushed for wherever possible, but added: “We’ll need to build a lot of houses and sadly not all of that can be done on brownfield sites.”

Meanwhile, the Conservatives put forward a “brownfield first” approach, citing their introduction of the first Biodiversity Improvement Zone in Hatch Warren.

Simon Bound said: “We have over 1000 new homes being built each year and deliver 40% affordable housing for local people.”

Affordable housing was also high on the agenda for TUSC, who said the housing question was “one of our most important campaign points”.

Candidate Mayola Demmenie added: “The Tories have left social housing to the whims of the market with the result that thousands of families live in unsuitable, overcrowded, damp and expensive accommodation in our town.”

The party promised to “immediately” introduce rent control measures and start a campaign to fund a “mass council housing plan”.

Women’s Equality Party’s Priya Brown added: “The private rented sector desperately needs regulation. Rents must be reformed and be proportionate to the actual cost of living. Homes for young people should be fit for purpose.”

WE added that “proper public scrutiny and enforcement” was the way forward and that development should only be on the ‘plentiful’ brownfield sites in the borough.

In their list of pledges the BDI group outlined an end to “developer free-for-all”, suggesting they would set up a council run housing company and “invest in building homes people can genuinely afford on council owned land”.

Leader Paul Harvey added that he’d like to see all homes “built to ‘passivhaus’ environmental standards”.

The Greens agreed that brownfield sites were preferable, adding: “We should be using brownfield sites wherever possible and office-space that is not likely to be used again as workplaces after COVID.”

Stephen Philpotts said that an attitude shift from “small starter homes” and ownership of homes, land and cars, to more energy-efficient, modular buildings that house many people, is needed.

Meanwhile, Alan Stone of Hampshire Independents said that UK-focussed recruitment would lead to higher wages, helping the crisis.

He said that covering green land with housing was ‘unjustified’, adding that starter homes were available, as long as “people understand that they may have to give up some luxuries whilst saving for a deposit.”

The Lib Dems did not respond to invitations to comment.

You can read the full responses from all seven parties here.