STAFF and board members at social housing provider Incommunities joined staff at other housing associations to stride out as part of a nationwide campaign to help create more affordable homes.

Walkers set off from Dewsbury Town Hall and finished at Huddersfield Railway Station. The walk was part of the Homes for Britain regional relay which started in Whitby on Sunday, March 8 and will see cyclists, runners and walkers travel the length of England, Scotland and Wales to reach the main Homes for Britain rally in Westminster, London, today.

Homes for Britain is campaigning for the next government to draw up a long term plan to tackle the housing crisis and to deliver more new homes. It brings together a coalition of organisations from across the housing sector. Over the next 20 years there will be 369,000 new households created in the Yorkshire region but at current building rates there will be a shortfall of more than 200,000 homes by 2031.

Geraldine Howley, Incommunities Group chief executive, said: “We are committed to building on our successful track record of delivering 500 affordable homes over the last eight years. By 2018 we are aiming to double this figure. However, with a growing local population there is a real need for more investment.”