COUNCIL chiefs have told how they are trying to tackle York’s growing housing crisis – starting with the city’s first new council homes in 20 years, which are due for completion this summer.
A Joseph Rowntree Foundation report warned yesterday that young people’s dreams of owning a home were being destroyed nationally by the housing shortage, with an estimated 3.7 million young people expected to be living with their parents by 2020.
Tracey Simpson-Laing, executive member for housing at City of York Council, said the city had one of the highest levels of housing need in the north of England, with house prices well above what many on average earnings could afford.
“A recent study found York needs 790 new homes per year to meet local needs but, like many places, new supply is constrained by problems in the wider economy such as restricted access to mortgage borrowing,” she said.
The council was working closely with local developers to help kick-start stalled development sites and had recently reviewed its planning policies to make development more attractive.
“We are exploring opportunities for wider institutional investment in the private rented market and helping promote the government’s range of Homebuy initiatives in the York area.
“At the same time the council is developing 19 new social rented family homes in Clifton, due for completion this summer. These are the first new council homes for 20 years and it’s hoped more will follow.”
Coun Simpson-Laing said people on lower incomes or who were reliant on benefits often found access to the sector difficult.
“This looks set to become even harder as changes to welfare benefits squeeze incomes further,” he warned.
Developer John Reeves, of the Helmsley Group, said that without a radical rethink and shift in policies by local politicians, there would be virtually no new mainstream housing built and the housing crisis would get even worse.
He said the authority needed to reduce affordable housing targets further, saying that 35 per cent of nothing was nothing, and also cut red tape and change planning tax take to make York an attractive place to build.
‘More land is vital’
THE chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has warned that more land must be available for new homes.
Julia Unwin, speaking at the Chartered Institute of Housing’s annual conference in Manchester yesterday, said communities might resist the release of land for housing, but it was essential to increase the supply of housing.
She said steps were also needed to improve the situation for people renting privately, saying short-term six month tenancies were hardly the basis for stable family life.
Ms Unwin was yesterday awarded a fellowship by the City and Guilds of London Institute, its highest accolade.
Chris Jones, the organisation's director general, said she was an inspiration and said the award recognised her “outstanding professional and personal achievements” in working tirelessly to combat poverty. Ms Unwin said it was a great honour.
Help needed on finding a home
OUR young people are often called the lost generation, with youth unemployment at worrying new heights of a million. Now many can’t even afford a place to live.
Property prices may have fallen, but the Joseph Rowntree Foundation warns that by 2020 some 3.7 million young people will have no choice but to live with their parents.
There is a ray of hope in York with the city’s first new council homes in 20 years.
The council did not apply for funding from the national Affordable Housing Programme’s 2011 to 2015 budget to build more. But Labour’s Councillor Simpson-Laing says the authority is investigating other possible sources of funding.
Private renting isn’t an option for those on low incomes, who have no alternative but to move back in with their parents.
Julia Unwin, of York’s Joseph Rowntree Foundation, says we have three choices: do nothing, delay or take decisive action. We think councils should make land available as a priority. There will be objections but this is the only way to begin solving the crisis.
Stumbling blocks remain. The private sector says affordable housing quotas are too high and banks are still reluctant to lend to young people. But while the differing interest groups wrangle, young people have nowhere to live. These are difficult times, but the only way forward is for all parties to compromise, and soon.
If not we will be left with a boomerang generation; one that keeps bouncing back home.
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