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Home > Scoping Paper > Areas of unsustainably high
housing demand
Regional Priority 2: Areas of unsustainably high housing demand
Despite the growing focus on areas of low demand for housing, demand
remains high across significant parts of the North West. Regional
Planning Guidance anticipates greatest need in
- "market towns and the more accessible and scenic rural
areas of Cumbria, particularly the Lake District National Park
and adjoining areas to the South and East;
- villages in remoter rural areas; and
- particularly affluent areas within commuting distance of
the Regional Poles including Stockport, Trafford and parts of
North Cheshire and South Lancashire."
In these areas, the challenge of achieving sustainability tends
to revolve around the need to maintain balanced and mixed communities
- ensuring that people with lower incomes, perhaps especially the
young and the old, are able to access local housing at reasonable
cost. Even a small number of affordable properties in high demand
areas can help provide sufficient critical mass for often economically
marginal services - buses, local shops, GPs - to continue, especially
in rural areas.
The provision of additional affordable properties is a key response
to the challenge of achieving balanced housing markets where demand
is high. A number of potential approaches are available, and the
choice of the most appropriate will largely be driven by local circumstances.
Among these are:
- development of new social housing for rent or low cost home
ownership using the 'traditional' route of Housing Corporation
funding via the single housing pot;
- using the planning system and Section 106 agreements to encourage
development of affordable housing as part of private housing developments,
or by securing a financial contribution for other affordable housing
schemes;
- making more effective use of existing public sector stock; and
- acquisition of existing property on the open market for use
as rented or low cost home ownership accommodation (although this
doesn't address the central issue in areas where there are simply
too few homes).
However, in the highest cost local housing markets, it can be extremely
difficult to deliver significant numbers of properties, of the right
type, and in the right locations, to help meet the needs of local
people, including the homeless. Combined with high Right to Buy
sales eroding the existing supply of affordable housing in high
demand areas, the challenge facing local authorities and their partners
is considerable. Work is underway, notably in Cumbria, on the development
of alternative models, for example based on an equity share approach.
We therefore propose the following priorities for the regional
housing strategy:
Priority 2.1
Tackling the shortages of affordable housing in areas of the
North West where demand is unsustainably high, where this impacts
adversely on social inclusion and the sustainable growth of local,
sub-regional and regional economies. Action will focus specifically
on:
2.1.1 continuing to deliver the Housing Corporation's special
investment programme for rural settlements below 3,000 in population;
and
2.1.2 parts of the region where demand is high and there is a demonstrable
need for additional affordable housing.
Questions
Where are the hotspots ? How should we target our activity ?
Should we pick rural issues out as a separate strategic priority,
or should they be seen as part of the mainstream housing market
issue facing the North West ?
How should we link investment strategies for high demand urban
areas with strategies for nearby areas suffering from low demand,
or at risk from it ?
More work
We need a better understanding of the processes at work in the
'hot spots', the ways these act as barriers to sustainable economic
development and social inclusion, and which areas need to be targeted
for investment.
Better information is also required about the current operation
of the planning system, including Section 106 agreements, and the
extent to which this can be relied upon as a source of significant
additional affordable housing in areas of high demand. This will
need to take into account the changes resulting from new Regional
Planning Guidance and the adoption of the Plan, Monitor and Manage
approach to those new regional policies. Development and exchange
of best practice approaches to these issues from around the region
should also be a priority.
Improved understanding of the real costs involved for developers,
RSLs and others involved in the process would also be helpful, to
establish the need for, and best use of, single housing pot resources
to support this process.
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