'113 people bid for each affordable home' in Stockton
Leaders have spoken of their concerns about affordable homes as startling figures show more than 100 people bidding for each house.
Stockton Council is looking at how it can speed up delivering more affordable homes - homes for sale or rent at discounted rates for people whose needs are not met by the private market. This comes after the government announced its intention to deliver "the biggest increase in affordable house building in a generation", as part of an overhaul of the planning system to "fix the foundations and grow the economy".
The council has found a marked rise in demand in recent years, particularly in rented homes. Applications to housing register Tees Valley Homefinder rose by 19% from 2022-3 to 2023-4, then soaring by 20% again during this year - bringing the total on the waiting list to 3,103 - while the number of homes advertised reduced by 23%.
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In the early part of this financial year, an average of 113 bids were placed on each property advertised. And not enough new homes - 146 last year - are being built to keep pace with the demand. This hits council services, particularly support for the homeless, vulnerable adults and people leaving care.
Now the council's cabinet has agreed to look into the options for delivering more affordable homes more quickly and bring in more investment. The authority is asking housing providers and developers for their views and ideas.
Carolyn Nice, director of adults, health and wellbeing, said: "As we all know we've got housing pressures within the borough and we need to be accelerating our affordable housing delivery mechanisms." Jane Edmends, assistant director of housing and A Fairer Stockton-on-Tees, said: "Just to give one stat there, for every property that's being advertised 113 people are bidding on that property. That's increasing financial pressures on us as the local authority.
"The report has come at this point because of very recent and timely government announcements. On the back of that, an options appraisal has commenced to look at what options are available to the local authority in terms of accelerating the delivery of affordable housing.
'It's something we're all concerned about'
"Nothing is pre-determined so it will look at the various partnerships and delivery options." Councillor Nigel Cooke, cabinet member for regeneration and housing, said: "I think it's something we're all concerned about.
"It's clearly not a position that's sustainable. I know we're not the only borough in this position, but as the cabinet member, very very concerned about that."
He said of the new government's recent announcement: "The background is the previous government not doing a lot actually with regards to the provision of affordable housing, so I welcome that.
"It's worth saying our current providers actually do an excellent job and are committing to building affordable homes. We've seen a 90% increase in applications for the housing register, but it's a concerning position that we need to take action on."
'Move at pace'
Before the meeting, he had said: "This is a key piece of work because the cost of living crisis has led to a huge rise in demand for affordable housing for residents across the borough.
"So, we’re looking at exploring a range of options to move forward and ensure we’re in the best place to improve the housing offer for residents in suitable locations, whether this be through partners or direct delivery. This falls in to our 'Powering our Future' work across the organisation as more affordable housing can have a really positive impact across council services, including support for vulnerable adults to live independently.
"We want to make sure we move at pace and organisations involved in the development of affordable housing have until midday, September 24, to offer their views for our market engagement exercise."
The council is looking at how delivering the homes will fit into its regeneration ambitions and a review of council assets including the former offices at Municipal Buildings. A 25-year blueprint for central Stockton and north Thornaby includes 300 to 400 homes in a "modern and aspirational residential offer" in Stockton town centre.
Further report later this year
The council's report on affordable housing says: "Boasting the supply of affordable homes is a core element of developing well-connected neighbourhoods where people want to live. Once the appraisal is concluded an outline business case setting out a preferred option(s) and resource implications will be presented back to cabinet (anticipated November/December 2024)."
It adds the work looking at the options needs to be done quickly "to ensure we are well placed to respond to future spending announcements and that we can deliver a robust pipeline of properties that are truly affordable, meet the borough's housing need and support health and independence".
A further report will go to cabinet later this year, once the different options to increase affordable housing have been finalised.
The council's place select committee is also working on a review of affordable housing and speaking to council officers, housing associations, landlords, builders and social housing organisations. The committee is expected to present its findings in January next year, and has already found housing providers cannot build at a rate to match the growing demand.
"We await that report with interest and make a very clear link to their recommendations," added Cllr Cooke.
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