THERE'S not a week that goes by when hard-working local families don't come to me for help with housing.

Over the last ten years, we've got 1.8 million more homeowners. Rising living standards mean more people here in Dudley own their own home than ever before. The number of new homes being built is at its highest since 1990.

But there's no doubt we need to do more - particularly for young families who can't get on the housing ladder and local people stuck on the council's waiting list.

But Britain's growing economy means house prices have nearly trebled in the last 20 years, and that means too many first time buyers across the country can't afford to buy.

We need more homes for sale on the open market, more homes for sale under part-rent-part-buy schemes that help people get a foot on the ladder and more homes for rent - and that's why the government has announced new plans to build 240,000 new homes a year.

We're carrying out a major review of government-owned land on 550 sites to find sites for housing development. Early work suggests that could provide land for up to 100,000 homes. We reckon 60,000 homes can be built on brownfield land currently owned by local councils, so we're looking at ways for local councils to use their land for more affordable homes.

And we're drawing up new plans for eco-towns and green' housing to cut fuel bills and new cheaper mortgages with more affordable 20 to 25 year fixed-rate terms.

I also want the council to get to grip with the thousands of empty and derelict homes across Dudley. If they got those back into use, we wouldn't just clean the area up, but we'd provide desperately-needed homes as well.

And we'd show all those hard-working local young families who want to get on the housing ladder and own a home of their own that they've got a government that's on their side