The single biggest issue in my inbox is housing. This has pretty much always been the case since I was first elected in 2005.
When your children grow up and leave home it is natural to want your children to be able to live in a nice home in their hometown.
Sadly, with pressures on land and homes in Hemel Hempstead being so highly sought after, that dream is becoming more and more difficult locally. However, I commend the excellent work done by Dacorum Borough Council’s planning and housing departments to find creative ways to solve this problem.
Dacorum’s housing department, in conjunction with local housing associations, has built dozens of new council houses and affordable homes in the past few years. These are both in Hemel Hempstead – most notably in the town centre and in Maylands, and in the surrounding area, such as the recently completed development in Coniston Road in Kings Langley.
New developments are also now underway in Maylands, Highfield and in Paradise with more at the planning stage.
The photo attached is from the Topping Out of Hightown Housing Association’s Heart of Maylands Phase 2 development which will provide a further 155 homes for affordable rent and shared ownership, as well as three commercial units, bringing much needed new homes and jobs to the town.
One of the real privileges of this job is being invited to events such as this and it is great to watch as these new homes are built, talk to those responsible for building them and finally to meet the people moving in.
Contact Mike:
Web: www.penning4hemel.com
Email: mike.penning.mp@parliament.uk
Telephone: 01442 251126
