The North, West housing divide
With thousands on the waiting list for social housing and hundreds of families in temporary accommodation, we find the North unitary is well behind its West counterpart in building affordable homes
By Sarah Ward
The North and West unitary councils are performing very differently in building new homes, our exclusive investigation can reveal.
Since it was founded two years ago in April 2021 North Northamptonshire Council has sold off three times as many homes as it has built: selling 108 of its 8,050 housing stock under the right to buy policy and building just 34 replacements.
In contrast the West authority (through its arms length organisation Northamptonshire Partnership Homes) has built twice the number it has sold. Under right to buy it has lost 68 homes, but has added 136 new homes to its circa 12,000 housing stock.
And overall numbers of affordable homes built by other social housing providers in the West dwarf the numbers that have been built in the North.
According to figures given to us by both authorities 819 affordable homes (outside of those built by NPH) have been built in the West since April 2021, however just 205 homes were built by other providers in the North in the financial year 2021/22. (The authority has not been able to give those figures for 2022/23).
The slow build rate comes at a time when several thousand local people are waiting for social housing. The North had 5,119 households waiting for accommodation at the end of April whereas the West had 2,773 (figures at the end of February this year).
The North is currently putting up 243 households in temporary accommodation, compared to 566 households housed temporarily by the West (figures at the end of February this year).
A spokesperson for the North unitary said:
“Affordable housing is delivered in a variety of ways, not solely through councils building more homes directly. NNC works closely with private developers and other registered social landlords to bring forward affordable housing development of all tenures, including social and affordable rent, shared ownership, and first homes.
“An increase in affordable housing is part of the solution and the Council has a role to play in this, both as a housebuilder but also in enabling the private sector and other social housing providers to do so.
“We are currently working on an NNC Housing Strategy, having to date been working to the strategies set by the previous sovereign councils.
“As well as the completed houses that have been given as a figure there are other projects coming forward such as Cannock Road and Cheltenham Road in Corby and the Grange in Kettering.”
Strategy versus no strategy
Perhaps the reason for the stark difference between the two authorities - which are both Conservative controlled and were both born out of the ashes of the former county council - is the lack of a housing strategy in the North.
Its website says that a strategy would be delivered in 2021, but two years on it has not been made public. At the Northamptonshire Integrated Partnership meeting last week, the council’s executive director for housing David Watts said the council had just signed off its housing and economic needs assessment however it is yet to be taken to councillors for a public discussion. The developments at Cannock Road and the Grange in Kettering were both originally started under Corby and Kettering’s borough council’s and have progressed very slowly under the new unitary.
A number of developments agreed by planning committees across the North area over recent years have also not had to provide affordable housing, as the councils have waived a condition of the overarching planning policy (the joint core strategy) which said 30 per cent of homes built in developments of 15 homes or more should be affordable. Developers often cited ‘viability issues’ and would commission reports to say the development would not be profitable if the affordable housing element was built. One such development which did not have to provide any affordable homes was the 150 flat Station Quarter scheme at Corby rail station. The Labour-run administration at the former Corby Borough Council agreed with developers that such a plan would not be profitable.
The unitary council also closed down the North Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit when it started up. For years this had oversight of development for the area and regularly reported on the targets for house building and whether these were being met.
The North has been short of staff since day one. As we revealed earlier this month, it will in part balance its budget in the most recent financial year by making huge savings on staff, with some departments running well below capacity.
The West’s strategy was signed off nine months ago.
In it, its councillor responsible for housing, Cllr Adam Brown says:
“We recognise that there are challenging times ahead, the current energy crisis and the cost-of-living increases are causing severe financial difficulties to many households. It is critical that the housing strategy focuses priorities and actions that provide greater stability and support for households and communities that will help create sustainable and thriving communities for people living in West Northants.
“This strategy sets out to tackle big issues like affordability, health, the supply of new homes and the environment. These are not easy things to solve, but we can make a real contribution to improved outcomes for many people by taking the right steps now.”
The strategy does not include targets as the authority says there is still work to do with looking at data, but it does have an overview of how many homes are needed by 2050:
“Work undertaken so far in the Housing and Economic Needs Assessment which looked at the period to 2050, shows that 64,170 additional dwellings are needed (2,139 annually) by 2050, 37,869 of which would need to be affordable properties.
“This compares to 2,189 new affordable homes delivered over the last 5 years, however the development of the WNSP will be an opportunity to review our planning policies in relation to affordable housing and ensure we maximise delivery of affordable homes through the planning system.”
The report says the council will ‘drive developers compliance in delivering required percentage of affordable housing in all qualifying developments’ and it will also look at using factory built homes to speed up housing delivery.
The strategy promises to report back annually on progress.
The national picture
In 2019 the Conservative government made a pledge of 300,000 new homes built each year. It has not been meeting this target which was abandoned altogether six months ago by Levelling Up secretary Michael Gove, after a backlash from MPs in his own party.
Housing will no doubt be a key battle ground in next year’s general election as Keir Starmer and the Labour party have been making big statements.
As reported by the Guardian, the party says it will give local councils powers to buy up land to develop for homes as part of its ‘pro-building agenda’. It has also said there will be special treatment for first time buyers who try and get on the ladder, will cap affordable rents and will restrict to 50 per cent the practice of overseas companies buying up properties in new developments.
What local people have to say
We spoke to people shopping in Corby’s town centre yesterday to ask what they thought about North Northamptonshire Council’s slow progress on affordable home building. One woman in her 50s told us she had lived in a tent in Kettering during lockdown, another grandmother said she has her 21-year-old grandson living with her as he is unable to afford a private rental and another said he has been paying a private rental while saving for a deposit.
Monica* said she was the perfect person to speak to about housing. Having moved from Poland as an economic migrant 16 years ago, after some personal problems including a relationship breakdown and mental health issues, she found herself sleeping on a bench and then a tent in Kettering during lockdown. She currently has a room provided by a housing support for homeless people in the region, but lives with four other men.
She said:
“There needs to be much more affordable housing and more studio flats. I am sharing a place with other men - I sometimes question whether this is better than a tent.”
Eileen Maddox, who is in her 70s, told us she currently has her 21-year-old grandson living with her, after he lost his home when his father died. She said despite working and earning money he cannot afford private rent and he has in the past slept in his car in a bid to be provided social housing by the local authority but this has not happened.
Having moved down from Glasgow thirty years ago, like many in the town Eileen bought her council property under the right to buy scheme and now lives in a home she bought privately 20 years ago.
She said:
“It is such a shame that young people today are finding it so hard to get their own place. My grandson does not want to be living with us, but he has no choice. The council needs to build more homes so young people can have a better start like we did.”
Laurence Baker, who lives in the town and works as a business analyst, has been privately renting for six years. He pays £780 a month for a two bedroom flat, but says he has a nice landlord who has not increased the price. He and his girlfriend have been saving a deposit for their own home but don't think they will buy in Corby.
He said:
“I think the house prices are over inflated (due to the rail station) so we will probably buy somewhere else.
“There always needs to be more housing - both social housing for people who can’t afford private rents and for people who are looking for their first home.”
Well done Eileen. Completely missing the point there of how she’s contributed to this problem and now complaining it’s bit her family in the a**e.