‘No housing crisis in Doncaster’, local Reform UK leader claims
Councillor Howard Rimmer told a meeting that the borough is meeting its housebuilding targets and claimed that meant there was no housing crisis.
Reform UK’s leader in Doncaster has claimed ‘there is no housing crisis’ in the city, during a debate on houses of multiple occupancy (HMOs).
Councillor Howard Rimmer told a council meeting on September 24, 2026, that the borough is meeting its housebuilding targets and claimed that meant there was no housing crisis.
Repeating the claim to journalists after the meeting, Coun Rimmer said: “There is no housing crisis in Doncaster. There is an arrangement where the council have been told to produce so many houses.
“We are already building within our remit.”
Council documents from 2025 show there are 200 new homelessness assessments done in the city every month.
There are also 3,000 contacts to the Homes Options Service offered by St Leger Homes of Doncaster, which offers support to those that are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
“New housing’s not going to affect them is it?” Coun Rimmer responded.
Data shows that housebuyers in Doncaster will get 50 per cent less property for their money than a decade ago, with local salaries failing to keep pace.
The Reform UK leader’s comments came during a debate over a motion from Coun Rimmer’s party colleagues.
It requested the council undertake an assessment on whether to introduce new rules requiring property owners to obtain planning permission in order to turn a home into a ‘small HMO’.
Currently, this change of use can be implemented without planning permission, the motion proposer Coun Chris Kidger said.
He said larger HMOs are already subject to planning control, with the motion requesting the Mayor of Doncaster instruct staff to assess whether a similar, city-wide restriction on small HMOs can be ‘justified’.
Under the directly elected mayor system, motions passed by the Reform UK majority have little power and are often symbolic, with power concentrated with the elected mayor position.
However, Labour’s Ros Jones, the current Mayor of Doncaster, said she would support the motion, but due to the significant cost and resources involved, said it would be considered ‘as part of the budget setting process’ for 2027/28.
Coun Kidger’s motion said the new rules would be ‘subject to the evidence and relevant statutory requirements’ uncovered in the preliminary assessment.