Happy New Year everyone. I know that it was a few days ago but this is my first column in the Evening Mail since we entered 2017 and my first chance to send you this message.

Just before Christmas, now I know that that does seem like a long time ago, we had some brilliant news on the housing front.

Last year in their budget, the government announced an additional stamp duty levy on second homes, something I have been pushing for for many years. At the time, they announced that some of the additional money they raised from this would be put towards funding much-needed affordable housing in those areas where second homes make it hard for locals to afford somewhere to live.

Two days before Christmas they announced that this was at last happening with the creation of the Community Housing Fund. This will provide grants to local authorities blighted by second homes to help them to fund more affordable housing for first time buyers. Given the high levels of second homes we have around here I had high hopes that South Lakeland would really benefit. So it was great to learn that nearly £2.4m will be heading in our direction over the next year, with more to follow in subsequent years. This grant means we are the third highest area in the country in terms of how much we are benefiting from the fund.

The money in the first year will be spent on setting things up and creating the structures needed to ensure the money is spent wisely but from next year all of the money has to be spent on building new homes. One of the great things about this is that the government is giving the money to the local councils to decide how best to spend it as they really are the people who know where the housing needs are greatest. There are currently just under 3,000 people on the housing waiting list at South Lakeland District Council. That is a huge figure for an area with a population of just over 100,000; although to be fair the council has been doing a good job in getting it down from its high point of nearly 3,500 three years ago.

Clearly there is a limit to how far £2.4m can go towards sorting out the needs of nearly 3,000 people but it is a step in the right direction and with all the efforts that our council has been putting in over recent years, it will definitely mean that more families will be able to move into much-needed new houses within the next couple of years.

As I am sure you know, housing problems do more to create problems in the future than almost anything. Without a permanent home children cannot get settled at school, people cannot be confident over being able to get to their jobs; ultimately there is nowhere where you can feel really safe and secure.

The more that we can do to quickly sort this out in South Lakeland, the better for everyone.