Town hall bosses in Stockport have been told a plan to build 300 affordable homes is "simply insufficient" to meet the demand.

Labour MP Navendu Mishra said the Lib Dem-run council is "delivering a fraction of what is needed" to address the housing "crisis" in the town.

He raised concerns about Stockport's housing shortages in a letter addressed to council leader Mark Hunter.

Stockport Lib Dem Group said it will respond to the MP's concerns in due course.

Currently, there are 1,400 new homes being built in Stockport town centre, and 25 percent of these are set to be designated as affordable.

Mr Mishra said: "While you [Mr Hunter] identify the current figure of 300 affordable homes out of 1,400 under construction as a point of pride, Stockport Homes informed me in late January that their waiting list stood at 5,995 households.

A source at Stockport Homes said there were 5,995 people on a housing waiting list (Image - Alasdair Perry)

"In simple numerical terms, this is delivering a fraction of what is needed.

"While you state that Stockport's housing difficulties cannot be addressed by the planning system alone, I am deeply concerned that this amount is simply insufficient when confronted with the scale of the problem."

Affordable housing is defined by the government as homes for sale or rent for people whose needs are not met by the private market.

This includes housing which is rented out at below market rates, or homes for sale through shared ownership schemes.

Part of the problem in Stockport, Mr Mishra believes, is the number of new build-to-rent developments being constructed, which he says will only grow the private rental sector and could drive up rent prices for local residents.

He said schemes such as new apartments next to Stockport Interchange could fuel this issue.

(Image - Alasdair Perry)

He added: "These sites only expand the private rental sector in the town, funnelling residents' income to corporate landlords without expanding home ownership or significantly strengthening the social rental sector.

"In central Manchester, these developments have been geared towards higher income residents, whose rental tenures create a high degree of turnover among residents.

"I fear the spread of these developments in Stockport will have a similar effect."

Housing is one of the key issues in Stockport in a year which will see a local and general election take place.

The council has a plan to build a total of 4,000 new homes in Stockport town centre on brownfield sites, but it has faced opposition for not looking at areas of the green belt for development.

Stockport council is currently putting together a local plan for housing, which it will use to "protect the green belt" according to Cllr Colin MacAlister.

But this could still be years away from becoming reality, and it is not set to be adopted by the council until 2026 according to its timeline.

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