Housing - Catherine West

Investing in our Communities – Labour’s Spending Review

Today, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves announced the results of the Labour Government’s Spending Review. After 14 years of austerity under the Tories, Labour’s first budget was about fixing the foundations; today’s Spending Review is about investing in Britain’s renewal. Every day I receive enquiries from local residents about…

Millions of people are living in overcrowded and mouldy homes – why won’t the Government fix the housing crisis?

Following my Parliamentary debate on housing overcrowding, I was asked to write for the Parliament Politics on why this issue is so important. Read my article in full here: “This week, I led a Westminster Hall Debate on Social Housing Occupancy Levels, an issue I have been campaigning on since…

My letter to the Secretary of State: leaseholders urgently need reform

I have written to The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities regarding the recent increases in service charges many constituents across Hornsey and Wood Green have been in touch with me about. It is time that the Government delivers on its pledge to bring much needed reform…

WATCH: Catherine calls for more council homes to tackle the housing crisis

Today I led a Westminster Hall Debate on Social Housing Occupancy Levels, an issue I have been campaigning on since I become a Member of Parliament for Hornsey and Wood Green in 2015 and before that a London Council Leader. Watch my speech in full below. Each week, I speak…

The last desperate act of a party that’s failed: my response to Budget 2024

It felt like the Chancellor was living on another planet listening to Budget 2024. Crisis, what crisis? Yet the rosy picture he painted couldn’t be further from the reality for people in Hornsey & Wood Green. Food prices are still 25% higher than they were two years ago. Rents are…

9,700 families in Hornsey & Wood Green hit by Tory mortgage penalty

Labour analysis reveals that the average household in Hornsey & Wood Green is set to be put under more pressure than ever by Conservative mismanagement of the economy. Analysis from the Labour Party allows people to search the amount that mortgages are predicted to rise, including by £6,900 in Hornsey…

Warm home discount and damp and mouldy homes

While energy prices soar, some disabled people are being stripped of their Warm Home Discount, and thousands of children and vulnerable people are struggling in damp and mouldy homes. Yet this week the Tories appointed their SIXTH housing minister in a year. With a revolving door of inaction at the…

Fire safety measures and the cladding scandal

On Monday 30 January 2023, the Housing Secretary made a statement on the Government’s progress on ensuring buildings were safe from fire safety issues. I know what an issue of concern this is for people living in several developments in Hornsey & Wood Green, whose lives have been on hold…

Why I’m calling for an end to shameful forced installation of prepayment meters

People on prepayment meters pay more for their fuel because prepayment tariffs are more expensive than other payment methods. They also have a higher daily standard charge. Those on prepayment meters are more likely to be in vulnerable circumstances, on lower incomes and in poorer housing, whereas people who are…

Haringey’s Housing Strategy

Haringey Council are currently consulting on their Housing Strategy and comments are invited until 16 December 2022. Find out more and respond to the consultation here. Housing is the number one issue that residents contact me about, so I have submitted my own formal response under the Council’s four categories:…