Our plan to unlock new homes and fix Somerset housing

Liberal Democrats in Somerset are calling on the government to allow more than 600 new council homes to be built in the county.

Gideon Amos, MP for Taunton and Wellington, raised the issue during a Parliamentary debate on housing needs for young people.

He said: “Lib Dem councils such as Somerset want to build more, but their borrowing is maxed out.

Referring to the national budget he added “If the Government will not increase the £3.9 billion a year for council and social housing to the £6 billion a year that we would like to see, will they look at writing off part of the decades-old housing revenue account debt?

“If they did so, my Liberal Democrat Somerset councillor colleagues could build at least another 630 new council houses.”

The proposal is being backed by Cllr Federica Smith-Roberts, Somerset Council’s lead member for communities, housing revenue account, culture, equalities and diversity.

She said: “It’s great to see this raised in Parliament by Gideon.

“I have been raising this at Somerset Council as a way of us being able to build more homes such as our recently completed flats and houses at the Oxford Inn on Roman Road, Taunton.

“We are committed to building more social housing so that tenants have good quality homes and we can do even more if government give us the ability to do so and stand by their commitment for more council housing.”

Gideon, as Lib Dem spokesperson for housing and communities, said the issue was: “probably the single biggest thing affecting young people's lives and their futures – whether it's owning or renting, housing dominates their lives. 

“Having a decent home – one you can afford – is fundamental to all other freedoms.”

He told the debate that young people needed an affordable route out of private renting.

“That means a serious, funded social house building programme, including tenures specifically designed for young people, and capping rent rises in the way that we proposed during the passage of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, so that young people can actually save—for example, for a deposit on a new home of their own.”