West Yorkshire needs a devolution deal that gives us the power, funding and flexibility to deliver more affordable homes - Tracy Brabin

So you can imagine my frustration when, on becoming the Member of Parliament for my hometown decades later, I was confronted with the reality of the crisis of social housing in 21st century Britain.

Casework from hundreds of desperate families, dealing with cash-strapped local authorities, all fighting for fewer and fewer homes on ever-increasing waiting lists.

Insecure, expensive housing along with high childcare costs, unreliable public transport and inaccessible healthcare services inflicts misery on millions of ordinary families – not just in Yorkshire but up and down the country. And sadly, where once social housing was a safety net, now with housing budgets slashed to the bone, we see poor conditions across all sectors – social housing, rented accommodation and owner-occupier.

As the tragic death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in Rochdale due to excessive mould shows, poor quality housing can have life-altering, even deadly consequences.

In West Yorkshire, we are doing everything we can to turn the tide in difficult economic circumstances. When I was first elected, I pledged to build five thousand affordable, good quality and sustainable homes in West Yorkshire. And that’s exactly what we’ve been getting on with.

Working with our five local authorities and the West Yorkshire Housing Partnership, we’ve made significant local progress in the face of continued national challenges, including a slowdown in construction during the pandemic and significant delivery challenges due to rising costs and inflation.

However, devolution gives us an opportunity to deliver where the market has failed.

Through the Brownfield Housing Fund, we have eight schemes in delivery with a further four in the pipeline to deliver over 2,000 new homes. And as the cost of living bit last winter, we worked with social housing providers to make 1,700 rented homes warmer and cheaper to run, and are about to start retrofit work on a further 2,400. This will save households hundreds of pounds on their energy bills a year – every year. But this only scratches the surface of our ambition.

Just this week, we cemented our ambitions with a groundbreaking new partnership with Homes England – only the third of its kind – which will catapult our house building targets to the next level.

Following successful pilots in Greater Manchester and South Essex, our Strategic Place Partnership will deliver affordable, sustainable homes in fifteen areas across five districts, including house building schemes in Bradford City Village, Leeds City Rim, Dewsbury Riverside, Brighouse and Castleford.

In total, the partnership will allow us to boost the delivery of 38,000 new homes across West Yorkshire. That we were able to secure this special partnership with Homes England – the national housing and regeneration agency – is a testament to the scale of our ambition and the enormous potential for economic growth in West Yorkshire.

Because good quality housing is just one piece of the puzzle. When you combine it with reliable and affordable public transport, locally designed skills training for well paid jobs, a vibrant cultural offer, safer streets for women and girls and a greener environment for all, you end up building a more vibrant West Yorkshire that works for everyone.

That’s my ambition for our region. And with further devolution, we could do so much more. That’s why I’m putting forward the case to the Government for a new, deeper and wider “trailblazer” devolution deal for our region – one that gives us the power, funding and flexibility to deliver more affordable homes and determine our own destiny.

Because we’ve proven ourselves to be partners to do business with – proven that devolution works for West Yorkshire.

We secured this partnership with Homes England by investing over £3m of our devolved money into a credible pipeline of house building projects.

Without devolution, this would simply not have been possible.

But with affordable and sustainable house building front and centre of my mayoral programme, we’ll accelerate the delivery of 38,000 new homes in partnership with Homes England, our local authorities and the West Yorkshire Housing Partnership.

Because as a council estate kid myself, I understand that a safe and secure home is not just a nice to have – it’s the bedrock for leading a happy and healthy life.

Tracy Brabin is the Mayor of West Yorkshire.