Waiting list for York council houses on the rise

10:29am Tuesday 20th November 2012 in News By Press reporter

THE waiting list for council houses in York has risen by almost 700 people in the space of six months.

New figures produced by City of York Council have shown the number of people awaiting accommodation provided by the authority increased from 3,972 at the end of March to 4,651 at the end of September.

Since July alone, the waiting list has grown by 330, according to an annual report on social housing in the city by Coun Tracey Simpson-Laing, cabinet member for health, housing and adult social services.

In the report, she said: “This figure continues to rise across all age groups as private sector rents outstrip income and benefits.”

The report also said rent arrears relating to council house tenants in mid-August, the last figures available, stood at £645,713, although this was £1,046 less than at the same point in 2011.

Comments(21)

meme says...
10:38am Tue 20 Nov 12

Not suprising as no one is building due to councils ridiculous planning constraints on affordables
This will only get worse and is mostly of the Councils own making despite what they will spin and say
Its the worst housing crisis facing us in the future and all CoYC do is meet/discuss/consult
/expend huge quantities of political hot air and do absolutly nothing about it

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Zetkin says...
10:55am Tue 20 Nov 12

Nothing to do with council policies, real or imaginary.

Everything to do with successive governments of both parties forcing councils to privatise housing like there's no tomorrow via the so-called "right to buy".

This has taken huges amounts of publicly-owned houses for rent and turned them into privately-owned houses for rent. Private landlords generally charge much more as they're letting for profit rather than to fulfill a social need.

The economic depression is leaving more and more people unable to afford private rents, so no surprise they're joining the waiting list for social housing.

Government policy has also meant councils are not allowed to use the money gained from council house sales to build replacements for the privatised stock.

So we have economic crisis increasing the number of people needing social housing, and government policy reducing the amount of social housing that's available.

The answer is for the government to start a massive programme of house building as it did in the aftermath of the major wars of the last century.

With both parties wedded to the doctrine of privatisation, it's unlikely to happen any time soon.

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The Junkyard Angel says...
11:02am Tue 20 Nov 12

Zetkin. Brilliant comment and so true.

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paintitred says...
11:10am Tue 20 Nov 12

its the new allocation system thats clogging up the list a will do going forward.

i was trying but gave up to obtain a 1 bed flat in exchnage for a 2 bedroomed house. but as iam only down grading by 1 bedroom im classed as sliver band, bidders in the silver band very very rarely win their bids in York.

so i dont get a flat and a family dont get a 2 bedroomed house. leaving 2 ppl on the waiting. i dont see a way i will get my trasnfer. (im not interested in a direct transfer as my brother had a very bad experience with the people who moved in to his old house and his new neighboughs- wont go into detail but it turned very nasty- enough to put me off) i wonder how many more ppl in the silver band are under occupying a property???

thats just my experience , but its proberly far more deep rooted then my situation

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The Great Buda says...
11:19am Tue 20 Nov 12

Spot on Zetkin.

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hifive says...
11:37am Tue 20 Nov 12

Hmmmmm....but if people didn't use their right to buy option they'd either just stay in the property and continue to pay rent, or they'd move out and seek somewhere private meaning more of a private housing demand.

Agree that a huge house building programme is in order though!

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MouseHouse says...
11:52am Tue 20 Nov 12

Zetkin - 100% agreement.

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capt spaulding says...
12:00pm Tue 20 Nov 12

I find myself agreeing with Zetkins last point. A massive gov housing scheme similar to what happened after WW2.
Probably the only way to address the problem.

THE PROBLEM which our loony left councillors with complicit officers and including Ms England are in denial of, spin answers and totally ignore it.

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inthesticks says...
12:08pm Tue 20 Nov 12

I`ts really concerning to hear that someone with 2 beds wanting 1 has found it difficult to swap. There should be massive incentives for people who wish to downsize in social housing, including their removal costs. painitred and all others in the same position should be embraced by someone who`s job it should be at the council, (take out the cycling tzar or the useless `five a day` role and pay someone to do something that is really necessary!) what on earth is the point of having people in 2 and 3 beds who want less. My blood is actually simmering if this is how it is.
We need to really encourage single elderly to swap to smaller homes - this is a social housing crisis & one 90 year old lady in a 3 bed house is unjustified i`m afraid. Never mind it`s their home, there are those with a greater need, they can be assisted to move into a perfectly nice smaller home.
Please anyone who has 10 minutes spare watch this heartbreaking film from Joseph Rowntree Foundation, if you are not moved then there is something emotionally wrong with you. http://www.guardian.
co.uk/society/video/
2012/nov/19/child-da
mp-temporary-housing
-video?CMP=twt_gu
>
Zetkin was totally spot on, the biggest setback was that the income from selling off homes was not re-invested in more homes. Anyone old enough will remember Thatcher and her ilk expecting everyone to be able to buy their own home. What a massive fail. Take Simon in the film, he used to work but because of serious health issues was unable to. How are people like this supposed to buy a home?
Massive investment from Central Government is what we need - straight into housebuilding, creating homes, much needed jobs and those now employed building workers and admin staff etc, will start spending money for the good of the economy. Don`t anybody dare say there is no money to pay for it, government happily squanders BILLIONS of our money on consultations, massive amounts spent on their `mates` in private business, MOD, NHS, 17bn on a high speed rail link when we have not invested in the rail services we have? - we can`t even house our families, where are our priorities here?

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Candy Cupcake says...
12:49pm Tue 20 Nov 12

YCC had an opportunity to apply for a Government Grant to invest in building new houses... this opportunity was turned down, stating that the money offered was not enough to buy land and build properties, which I understand as it did fall short, however the YCC did not look at what land they currently own, and when Tracy Simpson-Laing was challenged about the ownership of Beckfield Lane Tip and the viability of building affordable homes on it, the response was, 'its complicated and we can't do it' but what confuses me is Manchester City Council have done exactly that!!! The reason the waiting list has soared is simple, the LHA rate is approx £150 short of actual rents, move to Harrogate or Leeds you can find a rented property within the LHA rate. It seems to me that YCC are spending too much time dragging their heels and blaming Government instead of pulling up their socks and working on the problems, e.g. instead of moaning about the LHA rate, there should be a feasibility study done to prove that by changing the boundaries it will mean no more money spent but more people have access to affordable homes... moaning about problems doesn't resolve them, go with a solution and people will listen. I am hearing first hand of the problems young low income families are experiencing in York, and its heart breaking. Its also a bout time they worked on a proper housing strategy instead of throwing it out to landlords and builders, I want to know what exactly is YCC contributing???

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Candy Cupcake says...
12:49pm Tue 20 Nov 12

YCC had an opportunity to apply for a Government Grant to invest in building new houses... this opportunity was turned down, stating that the money offered was not enough to buy land and build properties, which I understand as it did fall short, however the YCC did not look at what land they currently own, and when Tracy Simpson-Laing was challenged about the ownership of Beckfield Lane Tip and the viability of building affordable homes on it, the response was, 'its complicated and we can't do it' but what confuses me is Manchester City Council have done exactly that!!! The reason the waiting list has soared is simple, the LHA rate is approx £150 short of actual rents, move to Harrogate or Leeds you can find a rented property within the LHA rate. It seems to me that YCC are spending too much time dragging their heels and blaming Government instead of pulling up their socks and working on the problems, e.g. instead of moaning about the LHA rate, there should be a feasibility study done to prove that by changing the boundaries it will mean no more money spent but more people have access to affordable homes... moaning about problems doesn't resolve them, go with a solution and people will listen. I am hearing first hand of the problems young low income families are experiencing in York, and its heart breaking. Its also a bout time they worked on a proper housing strategy instead of throwing it out to landlords and builders, I want to know what exactly is YCC contributing???

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york worker says...
2:53pm Tue 20 Nov 12

My current neighbour in about 90 in a 3 bed house on her own

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paintitred says...
4:01pm Tue 20 Nov 12

As a back up to Zetkins point.

the street where i live (was born in my house) there was once upon a time 21 council built houses. only 8 of which are in the ownership of ycc today.
out of the 13 sold of by the council only 2 house have the occupants that purchased from the council.The rest have passed hands sevral times. out of the 8 still owned by the council 1 is a 2 bedroomed that is all but deserted as the occupants have moved in with her parents as she struggles with her kids. 1 (mine) is under occupying by one bedroom and another 1 is under occupying by 2 bedrooms (80+ pensioner). so only 5 houses out of the original 21 are been used for for they were orginaly built for and thats social housing

and thats just one small street in york.

soical housing is a complete mess in york

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meme says...
4:07pm Tue 20 Nov 12

But not many who bought under right to buy would agre with Zetkin
However relying on the private sector to deliver public homes is not going to work
Thats clear. So Zetkin has a valid point but where would the money come from when there is none?

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paintitred says...
4:16pm Tue 20 Nov 12

meme wrote:
But not many who bought under right to buy would agre with Zetkin
However relying on the private sector to deliver public homes is not going to work
Thats clear. So Zetkin has a valid point but where would the money come from when there is none?
lol

the house fairy

"tut -you do believe in the house fairy dont u meme"

;-)

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inthesticks says...
4:59pm Tue 20 Nov 12

meme wrote:
But not many who bought under right to buy would agre with Zetkin
However relying on the private sector to deliver public homes is not going to work
Thats clear. So Zetkin has a valid point but where would the money come from when there is none?
There is money, don`t you believe it!
http://www.truthproj
ect.co.uk/node/25
And growth makes growth - people working instead of being paid benefits then spend money which helps other business grow.

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Mrs Smith says...
5:26pm Tue 20 Nov 12

Paintitred, if you've been a tenant for more than 3 years, you can apply for Good Neighbour status. My friend got a high place on the list & wasn't waiting long to move

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markymmark says...
5:26pm Tue 20 Nov 12

Net Immigration into the UK is currently running at over 200,000 people each year.
Of course we have a housing crisis !

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jorvik says...
5:47pm Tue 20 Nov 12

markymmark wrote:
Net Immigration into the UK is currently running at over 200,000 people each year.
Of course we have a housing crisis !
You've hit the nail on the head there

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yorkborn66 says...
10:35pm Tue 20 Nov 12

york worker wrote:
My current neighbour in about 90 in a 3 bed house on her own
I agree with you point, but the other side of this point could be that this old lady maybe once was married then had children that are now tax payers, her husband and herself was maybe tax payers and it could be possible that this lady has lived in this property for years and paid enough rent to buy this house 3 times over.
This could have been the family home for years (I don’t know) but this is like lots of other cases.
Do we harass an old lady because councils and governments have made mistakes?
Is there a scheme available from YCC to re house vulnerable and old people into accommodation better fitting to their tenants needs, which would then free up under occupied houses?
Probably not enough suitable properties available? I am not sure.

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piaggio1 says...
10:42pm Tue 20 Nov 12

actually it,s good for the uk?????
so all the do gooders keep tellin me .
seems like 199.000 of em live in/around selby....stayner hall (new build)

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