The leader of Knowsley Council has been accused of being "out of touch" over comments made about the borough's house price rises.
Knowsley has seen something of a house building boom in recent years, with the local authority basing a key element of the borough's economic growth on additional council tax generated through the increase in properties.
A story published on the council's communications website entitled "So much achieved – but Leader remains ambitious for Knowsley" refers to a 22% increase in house prices in the borough in recent years, much higher than increases elsewhere in Merseyside.
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In the piece, Cllr Graham Morgan, leader of Knowsley Council, said: "I know personally from the conversations I have “on the doorstep” that the public appreciate what this Council does – and the way in which we do it.
“Our plan is to continue working hard to create a Borough where people can raise families with optimism and opportunity for their future… whatever challenges come along!”
Tweeting about the story and the comments made about house price rises, leader of the opposition Cllr Kai Taylor said the leader was "out of touch" with the challenges residents in the borough are facing with housing.
Cllr Taylor tweeted: "A so called 'Labour' council leader gloating that house prices have gone up by 22% in one of the poorest areas in the country.
"Out of touch, out of ideas, out of time. He’s simple got to go."
Speaking to the ECHO, Cllr Taylor said: "What we're finding speaking to people in the borough is that this huge increase in houses for sale is not actually benefiting Knowsley families, people who have been living in Knowsley for generations.
"We're seeing a lot of people moving out to Knowsley to places like Wigan and Wirral and those who own their own homes having to take money out on mortgages to help family get on the property ladder. Noone's actually benefiting from this."
Cllr Taylor added: "While some people may be in a strong financial position to buy these house, most people in Knowsley aren't. We're seeing a huge inflation in the housing market at the moment that I don't think is going to be sustainable and its impacting badly on a lot of people."
"The leader's comments are just so insensitive, it demonstrates a total lack of sensitivity tow ards a huge number of people in Knowsley not able to get on the housing ladder, in ridiculously overpriced private rental accommodation and this house price spiral is creating a house crisis in Knowsley."
Cllr Taylor said the situation is being exacerbated by landlords selling up to cash in on the housing boom, resulting in huge pressure on housing options.
He said: "We're having loads of people who can't get affordable housing and the council's strategy is all pushed towards private development, letting developers off with section 106 and affordable housing commitments, which often aren't very affordable anyway. If you're a couple earning the average wage in Knowsley, chances of you being able to get on the housing ladder in the borough is slim."
Cllr Taylor said he was also concerned at the wider impact of the huge increases in homes in Knowsley on local infrastructure and opportunities for residents coming into the area.
He said: "What opportunities are there for people moving here from outside - there's a lack of training and employment opportunities, there's no A level provision in the borough with people having to leave to access education.
"We're advertising houses at this huge increase but what infrastructure have we got to support them?"
Repeating calls last made by the Knowsley Greens last week for Cllr Morgan to step down, Cllr Taylor added: "This latest blunder shows that Cllr Morgan simply isn’t suitable to be leader of the council, we’ve given him the benefit of the doubt for five years, but this simply can’t go on, Cllr Morgan must step aside as leader"
In response, Cllr Morgan said: "It is disappointing, but sadly unsurprising, that Cllr Taylor has chosen to continue his personal attacks against me as leader of the Labour Group."
Referring to calls made by Cllr Kai Taylor and the Knowsley Labour Group ahead of the council's AGM for Cllr Morgan to step down as the leader of the council, Cllr Morgan said the opposition leader was "a little disingenuous".
He added: “Only a few days ago, we held the council’s annual general meeting, where I was re-confirmed as leader of Knowsley Council for the year ahead.
"Cllr Taylor was at that meeting, he raised no objection to my appointment and said nothing of his apparent concerns to me or in public at that meeting.
“These latest criticisms appear to boil down to the fact that the council I lead has been ambitious for the borough and its people, investing in the area and making it a better place to live, work and do business.
“I am proud of the fact that we want the best for our borough, we want a range of good quality housing to suit people’s needs, we want good local services, thriving town centres – we want to be a place where people choose to live and raise their families. I don’t apologise for that."
Cllr Morgan said he had seen "no evidence" to support Cllr Taylor's claim that people were leaving the borough for more affordable housing.
He said: "In fact, the opposite is true. We’ve seen significant population growth in recent years as a result of our investment in the borough, which has helped us successfully arrest a trend of population decline which we had seen since the 1990s.
“The new homes that have been built – of which a quarter are affordable and available to people through a variety of different ownership or rental schemes - have brought in more than £8.5million in additional Council Tax. This is money which is ploughed back into local services which benefits all residents."
Cllr Morgan also stated that Cllr Taylor's claims that "no one is benefiting" from the house price rises in the borough was "incredibly naieve."
He said: "More than £21 million was agreed, received and spent in Knowsley (confirmed in Knowsley’s Infrastructure Funding Statement 21/22) as a result of Section 106 agreements with developers. This is money which has been used for highway infrastructure improvements, improving public parks, tree planting, additional school places, town centre improvements, infrastructure to improve local GP capacity and other social value projects."
Cllr Morgan added: "Our Housing Growth Strategy, which is delivering the types of homes that people told us they wanted and needed, is helping to drive local economic growth, bringing in local investment and making Knowsley an attractive place to live. I think most people would agree that’s far from the failure that the opposition leader believes it to be.”
According to data provided by the council, there has been 6,700 homes built in the borough in recent years with an overall target by 2028 of over 8,000 new homes.
1,600 of these are classed as affordable homes, which includes homes that are social rent, affordable rent, shared ownership and rent to buy with the council adding that hundreds more are in the pipeline.
Average house prices in Knowsley, according to council data provided to the ECHO, come in at around £170k, lower than the north west and UK averages. Private rents are slightly below the £635 north west average at £600 per month and lower than the national average of £800 per month.
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