PR vs. REALITY: The Real Story of Tameside’s Housing Crisis
By Jason Nield, Tameside Independent – 30 July 2025
TAMESIDE, UK – As local politicians and housing associations celebrate a series of small-scale housing projects, a Tameside Independent investigation has uncovered a starkly different reality, revealing a systemic failure to address a crisis that leaves over 7,000 households on the social housing waiting list.
While Tameside residents have seen a flurry of good news stories recently—including local MP Jonathan Reynolds commending Jigsaw Homes for a 12-apartment supported housing scheme in Hyde and a stone-setting ceremony for 35 new apartments in Ashton—these announcements mask the true scale of the borough’s housing deficit.
In a formal statement provided directly to the Tameside Independent, the very same provider, Jigsaw Homes Group, confirmed the grim reality: “In Tameside, the demand for housing significantly outweighs supply, with more than 7,000 people on the waiting list.”
The provider also confirmed their entire plan to address this need is to build a total of just 56 new homes for social rent by 2026. This equates to just one new home for every 125 households currently waiting.
When we put this crisis to the government department run by Angela Rayner—the local MP for Ashton-under-Lyne and the UK’s Secretary of State for Housing—the response was one of evasion. After initially ignoring our press enquiry, her department’s press office provided a statement of generic, national talking points.
Crucially, the government’s response cited a waiting list figure of just 1,005 households, taken from their official “Live Table 600” dataset. This number, a fraction of the reality on the ground, appears to ignore the thousands of residents registered with housing associations.
The 6,000 Person Discrepancy
The Tameside Independent immediately challenged the press office on this 6,000-person discrepancy and asked for an explanation. We gave them a formal deadline of Friday, 25th July to respond.
They have failed to provide an answer.
The silence from the department responsible for housing, when confronted with a direct challenge on its own flawed data, speaks volumes. To get to the truth, the Tameside Independent has now submitted a comprehensive Freedom of Information Act request to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA). The legal deadline for their response is