A WYTHALL resident is calling on Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid to use his housing role to get appropriate properties built in the area for older people wishing to downsize.
John Raybone wrote to Mr Javid in the week the MP was given the title of Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government in Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet reshuffle.
Mr Raybone said he and others who owned three to four-bedroom homes and were 65+, able-bodied, fit, capable, self-managing retired people would be happy to move but there was nowhere suitable to move to.
“We are criticised for failing to uproot, downsize and move on, freeing up the housing market,” he said.
“It is in one sense an understandable and logical criticism, but there is one huge flaw. Downsize to what? And more importantly where?
“I, and most of my contemporaries are very keen to downsize and to support the younger generation, but we have no desire to move from our local area.”
Mr Javid said: “I am committed to making sure the housing market works for everyone and that means building the right properties for older people.
“My department set out plans in the Housing White Paper last year to give councils across the country the power to say that a minimum number of properties within a new development must be suitable for older and disabled people.”
