Letter to the Editor

TWO reports on the subject of housing were published last week which make interesting reading and ones which politicians both nationally and locally should take note of.

The first, from The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change states that the housing crisis is not caused by a lack of supply and that meeting the Governments target of 300,000 new homes a year will not make a significant inpact on house prices and rents. It went on to say that meeting this target would only cut house prices by 10% over a 20 year period and that the supply shortage story was a “red herring”. The low mortgage interest rates and global economics, including international demand to buy up property in London are behind the 160% rise in real-terms house prices since 1996. Increasing housing supply is likely to lead to a rise in the number of empty homes rather than boost levels of home ownership. It’s conclusion was that politicians should focus on reversing the erosion of social housing stock, ending housing benefit cuts and improving wage growth for young people to tackle affordability problems in the rented sector.

The second report comes from the National Housing Federation who analysed government data which found that 1.3 million children from more than 600,000 families are stuck in overcrowded living conditions of which one in four children have to share a bed with a parent or sibling. Kate Henderson the COE said that the only way to fix the problem is to build enough social housing, which requires a radical public spending programme- there is simply no other way.

One of The Harlow Alliance Party’s objection to the Local Plan of Epping Forest District and the homes proposed for the North of Harlow is the lost opportunity to include homes owned by local councils. With a limited supply of suitable land to build on, Harlow Council must make best use of it’s existing housing stock and one way to do this is to build as many bungalows as possible for older tenants and those with physical impairment so that many of the hundreds of underoccupied homes can be vacated and let to young families who are presently overcrowded. As things stand, if both of the above reports prove to be correct, in 2031 when all these thousands of privately owned homes are built on Harlow’s borders, there will still be thousands of families on the Council’s Housing Register and people living in tents and other unsuitable accommodation.

Regards

Nicholas Taylor