Tories in plans for housing

South Shropshire's ruling Tories are planning an initiative to make more affordable homes available to local residents.

The Conservatives plan to rip up rules that were introduced by the former Liberal Democrat leaders to make it easier for people to get on the housing ladder.

The Lib Dems introduced a rule forcing developers to pay between £39,000 and £65,000 when they built single homes. The cash went into a pot to fund affordable dwellings. But the Tories plan to slash that sum to between £21,000 and £35,000.

Today Councillor Mrs Cecilia Motley, the district's leader, said she expected the plan to face some criticism.

She said: "We believe that stimulating the single plot market in this way will encourage more applications than before, leading to more money overall in the affordable housing pot."

She said council leaders would look into other options, including buying back affordable homes to re-sell, then putting any profit back into the pot.