Owning a home in Stockport is 'becoming an unrealistic dream' for many residents in the borough, Labour councillors have claimed.

A motion on the issue was brought to a meeting in the town hall on October 9 by councillors Claire Vibert and Helen Hibbert.

It stated that the amount of households in Stockport in 'housing need' went up by 45 per cent from April 2024 and August 2025 – with more than 9,000 households now on the social housing register.

Stockport council is also due to spend £2m on emergency housing due to demand 'rising significantly' each year, the motion explained.

"Wherever you live in Stockport your community is affected by the housing crisis, your children can't afford to stay in the area where you brought them up, your parents may not be able to find a home for their retirement," said Cllr Vibert.

"You may be earning an ordinary wage and find that you can't afford a mortgage for a modest family home, or you may rent your home and find there are no affordable homes for private rent, and no homes for social rent in the community you live in."

Stockport Council discussed the housing motion in a full council meeting on 9 October (Image - LDRS)

Data from the Office for National Statistics has shown that house prices in Stockport are rising, at an average cost of £307,000 compared to the £292,000 average across England.

But major efforts are taking place to improve housing in Stockport, especially in the town centre with a huge regeneration scheme to build 8,000 new homes.

The motion demanded that the Lib Dem-led council make a local plan – which is a document with its vision for future development and housebuilding in Stockport – that 'meets the needs of Stockport's residents for years to come.'

The council has outlined a timeline for the local plan to be ready for submission by November 2026, and adopted by winter 2027/28.

Labour housing minister Matthew Pennycook MP also recently urged Stockport council to move forward with its local plan, setting out a timeline which is very similar to what the council is already working towards.

The Lib Dems in Stockport amended the housing motion during the council meeting, a move which was seconded by Cllr Anna Charles-Jones from the Heald Green Independent Ratepayers, and Cllr James Frizzell from the Green Party.

Stockport town hall, seen from Wellington Road South / A6 (Image - Nub News)

They called on the government to provide a cash injection to help build more homes and social housing alongside new infrastructure.

The amendment also noted that 'government planning rules now prevent us from protecting all of the green spaces that we all cherish.'

Stockport's Lib Dem council leader Mark Roberts said: "We're delivering the right homes in the right places, that's how we believe we fix the national housing crisis.

"With a focus on brownfield sites first, rather than concreting over the green belt and green spaces.

"That's where our politics differ and I'm okay with that, the original motion was wrong in fact, and we have corrected that.

"It also highlights the desperate need for more social housing and infrastructure, and we have repeatedly said a local plan on its own does not deliver social housing."

A majority vote saw the amended motion pass in the council chamber, with 38 councillors in favour, and 18 abstentions.

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