LABOUR Parliamentary candidate Roma Mills has attacked the district council's housing policy after the Review took up the plight of a single mother waiting 14 months for a home.

When the the Review highlighted how Deonne Smith and her seven-month-old daughter Riley were forced to share a camp bed in a cramped lounge, St Albans District Council admitted it does not prioritise housing applicants from pregnant women.

Councillor Mills, who leads the opposition Labour group, told the Review: "It seems to me they don't prioritise anyone who isn't literally on the street.

"People in housing need are not a priority in St Albans.

"I have been trying to support a family with two children - a baby and a young teenager - who are living in a one-bedroom housing association flat.

"Last November I found out there were 29 transfer applicants in one-bed accommodation looking for something larger.

"The problem in St Albans is an acute housing shortage.

"If you can't afford to buy - which will be the case for anyone on the average wage or below in St Albans, you have to rent.

"Private rents are sky high and social housing is just not available.

"The Lib Dem administration's answer is to reduce the annual social housing target from 200 to 100 - knowing full well that we need an additional 800 new social housing units per year just to meet local need.

"Councillor Donald and others like him keep talking about saving the Green Belt for their grandchildren, but my grandchildren won't be able to look at the Green Belt because they won't be able to live here."