Strategy without ambition is not enough to aid recovery or assist families suffering housing insecurity.

Northumberland’s new affordable homes strategy, heralded in this month for delivery, is in reality, another spinning plate from Councillor Peter Jackson’s Tories.

Trumpeting in their supposed 1000 increase in affordable homes; ‘Which is a major cut in both the Counties ambition and its planned timeline for delivery while lowering expectations and ambition by two-thirds’, Councillor Jackson said  “Delivering quality affordable housing is one of the key priorities for this council and will further enhance the county’s ever-growing reputation as a great place to live and work. Our population is dispersed over a  large geographical area and they have varying housing needs.  The new housing will reflect this with homes designed for families, the elderly, single people and our most vulnerable residents.”

When Councillor Jackson removed the County Councils core strategy planning document from inspection by Government he also stopped a garden village project from proceeding at Dissington in mid-Northumberland. The Garden Village project would have delivered 2000 affordable homes at no cost to the Council. When coupling the fantastic vision to develop such a scheme in the County with the ambition of the last Labour administration at County Hall who developed 1000 social houses and planned 1500 more by 2021 it shows how dire and small minded the new hailed strategy is; it’s a strategy that lines up with Councillor Jacksons ambition to not develop affordable or social housing in much needed rural Northumberland and shows the chasm between Jacksons ‘Local Plan’ and the former visionary Core Strategy.

The numbers of affordable and social homes in Labour’s plans would have been able to help those with the financial ability to get on the foot of the ladder the opportunity to purchase a new affordable home, whilst aiding those who are currently suffering housing insecurity to answer their dreams and relieve the constant pressure of becoming a statistic labelled by the Tories as the ‘working homeless’ and the design of delivery within the 'core strategy' would have benefitted those people who find themselves cut off from housing through the growth of second homes in the North and rural West of the County.

The current ‘strategy' issued by Councillor Jackson, to deliver 1000 affordable homes by 2021 supports our view as laymen that his administration shows a zero level of ambition and that his latest false promise is top of the charts for spin.

When developers ask the Council for planning permission they have to comply with certain aspects of planning legislation, part of which is the development at their cost of a certain level of affordable homes. Planners attempt to talk up high numbers usually about a third of the homes developed should be classed as truly ‘affordable’. Developers of course try every trick in the book to reduce that number and often succeed, but with over 19,000 planning permissions in train across Northumberland questions need to be asked regarding the Tories utter lack of ambition in only expecting to deliver 1000 affordable homes by 2021 and as explained this will be at no cost to the Council at all.  When amalgamated with the fact that six times the number of social homes have been sold under the Tories than developed with 62% of those homes falling into the hands of private landlords who hide behind the dreaded section 21 of the Housing Act shows that thousands of people now live with the curse of housing insecurity and why the handle of ‘Working Homeless’ has been pushed by the Tory press in an attempt to blind the public from the atrocities of developing an underclass right below our noses.


https://www.northumberland.gov.uk/News/2019/Aug/Council-s-bold-plans-for-1-000-affordable-homes.aspx