Friday brief: Social housing applications double in West Northants, causing backlog and apology
Plus public interest news from across the county
The number of households applying for social housing in West Northants has doubled in the past year, with 700 new applications a month.
The authority has issued a statement today to say that due to the high number of applications it now has a significant backlog and long waits for people to even find out if they are eligible to go on the housing wait list. No details have been given on the application backlog figures. The cabinet member for housing has apologised for the backlog.
The authority said homelessness, no fault evictions, and family breakups due to financial pressures, have led to a significant surge in demand.
It said:
“ [The] Council has also seen a rise in applications generally and is now receiving an average of 700 applications a month, compared with an average of around 335 the previous year, highlighting the significant scale of demand. On average, approximately 5,000 people are on the social housing system at any given time, with numbers constantly fluctuating as individuals secure alternative housing or leave the system for other reasons. The register covers West Northants’ population of around 430,000, and with only around 1,500 homes on average becoming available over a 12-month period, only those in the greatest need and highest priority bands are likely to be housed by West Northamptonshire Council.”
WNC brought in a new housing allocations scheme last April, which replaced the three separate ones across the former borough council and district areas. The new scheme recognises people in greatest need for help including those experiencing homelessness, with complex health and welfare needs, victims of domestic abuse, Care Leavers, Armed Forces veterans, and those subject to exploitation.
It says having to re-register people from the former lists as well as the extra documents now needed to assess eligibility has led to the backlog. New measures have been put in place to help people pre-assess their eligibility to get an early indication of whether they are likely to be successful and identify people in immediate priority need of housing and ensure they are prioritised whilst staff work through completing all the outstanding assessments.
The statement also said the authority is working to improve its systems to speed up some steps in the process.
WNC’s cabinet member for housing, Cllr Rosie Herring, said:
“This huge rise in applications for social housing in our area is a local reflection of the issues we are seeing nationally around homelessness, no fault evictions and shortage of suitable private sector homes.
“Everyone in West Northants deserves a decent place to live and we are sorry some people are currently having to wait significantly longer to find out if they qualify for our housing allocations scheme.
“We’re working really hard to clear the backlog as quickly as possible and have put in place new measures to speed up the process as staff assess all applications fairly and in line with our legal duties. We would also encourage people to use the pre application questionnaire to better understand their chance of getting on the register or seeking help for finding alternative accommodation. We would also ask all applicants to make sure they provide the right documents when they apply.”
In November the council launched its Affordable Housing Delivery Plan which outlined ideas for accelerating the delivery of affordable housing with a goal to deliver a minimum of 650 affordable homes per year by 2029/30, and a potential increase to 750 homes annually if market conditions and funding allow.
Further information, help and advice for residents is available on the West Northamptonshire Council’s Cost of Living Support Hub.
News in brief
Corby Town Council is moving to new premises after its tenancy agreement at Corby Cube comes to an end today.
Minutes of this month’s full council meeting say that due to not providing any public services it does not need a front facing office, as this would cause the public to have an expectation of operating hours.
Five options for a new premises were discussed by the working premises group and NN Journal understands the rental property agreed on is on the High Street in Corby old village.
£65,000 has been set aside in the coming year’s budget for accommodation costs. The authority says its long term ambition is to secure its own building.
The town council, which was formed in 2021, collects £610,000 each year in precept from 16,165 Corby households and this month decided to raise the annual precept by 6.9 per cent, taking it to £37.74 each year for a band d tax payer. The budget for the coming year will include £265,000 on paying its four staff members.
Finance reports show the authority, which is led by Labour’s Cllr Mark Pengelly, spent £3,478 on a Christmas tree and installation. It has set aside £58,000 for events and £24,000 to hold this May’s election.
The council has been contacted for comment about its new premises and the clerk said nothing has been confirmed but there should be more information next week.
NN Journal is working on a special report about the county’s parish councils which we plan to publish next week. If you have any insight or observations about your parish council please email sarahward@nnjournal.co.uk
Former leader of Northamptonshire County Council Jim Harker has put forward an idea for a new hospital on land near Sywell. Speaking to the BBC, the former councillor, who was in charge as the authority marched towards its financial demise, has teamed up with retired Kettering General Hospital surgeon Robin Lee to propose the solution to the hospital delay issue.
They suggest a new hospital is built on virgin ground and that the current general hospitals at Kettering and Northampton are turned into community hospitals.
The Labour government announced this month that the Kettering hospital build will be delayed and it is behind a number of other hospitals for financing. This is despite the area being one of the fastest growing in the county.
A thirteenth person has been arrested in the Ryan Burton murder investigation.
Ryan, from Corby, died at a Coventry hospital on January 16, six days after being attacked at Kettering’s Spring Rise park near Highfield Road.
A 23-year-old from Corby, who was arrested on Wednesday has become the eighth man arrested on suspicion of murder.
Northants Police say he remains in police custody, where he will also be questioned in connection with a robbery.
A 28-year-old Kettering woman arrested on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice has been released on police bail pending further enquiries along with 11 others, who have been arrested as part of the investigation.
Ace Hill, 18 of Corby, appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Tuesday charged with one count of murder and one of robbery. He was remanded in custody and will next appear on March 21.
Plans to partly demolish a vacant sports bar and build 13 flats in its place are set for approval by West Northamptonshire Council (WNC).
The Northampton Sports Bar on Gold Street has been vacant since it closed down more than four years ago during the Covid-19 pandemic. If the plans are approved, applicant Spearhead Holdings would retain the ground floor for commercial use while converting the first floor and adding a second and third level to house the apartments.
The three floors of flats would include 10 one-bed and three two-bed apartments. Tenants would access the flats from Adelaide Place, while the commercial unit entrance would remain on Gold Street.
Despite receiving no objections from members of the public, Northampton Town Council has shared concerns with the application, stating that it wants to see the building regenerated but the plans are “not the right type of development”.
It explains:
“This property will back onto late-night music venues and we are keen to see these retained as part of the town’s late night economy offering. To put these flats into close proximity of the venues will be detrimental both to the potential residents and harm the venues.”
A previous application to convert the same building into 14 apartments was refused partly because the noise impact was not properly dealt with. WNC’s environmental health team has stated that the mitigation proposed in this scheme would be “acceptable” and is likely to ensure future residents will be protected against noise.
According to plans, on-site parking won’t be possible. Developers have committed to creating storage space for up to 18 bicycles.
WNC planning officers wrote that the revised plans have responded positively to the previous reasons for refusal and offer a sustainable development which will “positively contribute to the town centre” by repurposing the “long vacant building”.
The application will be heard at the council’s planning committee next Thursday, February 6, for a final decision.
Report by Nadia Lincoln, local democracy reporter
Residents have hit back at plans to build a large warehouse complex on farmland next to the A14 near Rothwell with some saying it could become a ‘concrete jungle’.
More than 100 local residents attended a meeting by campaign group Rothwell Against Warehousing (RAW) to hear developers’ plans to transform the area into an ’employment zone’.
Applicant Harworth Group claims the site, which would contain eight warehouses if approved, will create 3,000 full-time jobs in the region. The units would be accessed via Harrington Road, an existing route branching off from the Junction 3 A14 exit.
Steve Hawthorn, a representative of RAW, said the campaign group launched after concerned residents attended one of the developer’s consultation meetings last year.
“[We] were left with more questions than answers. RAW support responsible development but the scale of this plan is totally irresponsible and completely oversized for the rural area,” he said.
Rothwell and Mawsley councillor Jim Hakewill said:
“All you have got here is rural rolling Northamptonshire countryside, nothing to upset the natural landscape. From all my years, I have never seen such a blatantly unpleasant, gruesome application.”
Rothwell Town Council has voted unanimously to object to the plans. The planning application has been submitted to North Northamptonshire Council (NNC), which will make a decision on whether to approve or reject the development. The deadline to submit comments on the application is February 14.
A spokesperson for Harworth plc said:
“We have undertaken extensive consultation with the local community, engaging with over 700 residents to date. We recognise the concerns raised regarding the protection of the local countryside, traffic, and local employment.
“We are proposing a net gain in biodiversity through tree planting and habitat creation and our plans also include significant investment in local infrastructure, including highway works to help improve traffic flow. Importantly, this development will provide a range of high-quality job opportunities for the local economy, supporting both local workers and the wider regional economy.
“We will continue to engage with the local community, as well as with North Northamptonshire Council and its statutory consultees to address all technical matters.”
Report by Nadia Lincoln
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I don’t think anyone should be interested in what Jim Harker has to say about anything, let alone a new hospital. The speed at which his official portrait at county hall was taken down by the Tory group once they were declared effectively bankrupt should say it all.
I said at numerous meetings that many more people would join the housing register when they aligned the housing allocation as prior to alignment NBC eligibility was £20,000 lower than it is now.