A Horsham Labour Party member called for action to solve the country’s growing affordable housing crisis at her party’s annual conference in Liverpool.

Speaking on the main stage, Carol Hayton described how there are more than a million families stuck on housing waiting lists and more than 79,000 households in temporary accommodation.

Carol Hayton: “Tory run West Sussex County Council, are about to cut all funding for homeless support projects because they say supporting the most vulnerable people in our community, in one of the wealthiest parts of the country is not a primary statutory duty.” #lab18 pic.twitter.com/0pxGKooF4t

— Horsham Labour (@horshamlabour) September 24, 2018

She called for urgent delivery of 100,000 council homes a year, an end to right-to-buy, a rebalancing of the housing budget with a significant increase in the national housing grant and ring-fenced surplus public land for council housing. Ms Hayton said: “We are now asking you, John Healey, you, John McDonnell, Jeremy Corbyn, Sadiq Khan and every Labour mayor, council leader, councillor and party member to take urgent action to resolve this housing crisis so that when we come to conferences when Labour is in Government, we won’t experience the collective shock of seeing so many homeless people sleeping in shop doorways because we will know that everyone is able to access an affordable secure and decent home.” She also highlighted proposed cuts by West Sussex County Council to housing related support services as it looks to plug a massive budget gap. Following the announcement the West Sussex housing-related support and homelessness sector has formed a coalition of existing providers to lobby and campaign for funding to be protected.

The Horsham Labour Party has started a petition calling on the Tory administration to abandon the cuts.