There is no doubt we need to build more affordable homes in our district. I expect every candidate in this election, whether they belong to a party or not, would agree we need more affordable homes. But for any of them to say they’ll build more council homes and cut the waiting list in four years, they are I personally believe, living in cloud cuckoo land.
1,300 affordable homes are already planned as is made clear in the Folkestone & Hythe District Council Housing Asset Management Strategy 2022-2027. It states at page 18, Para 75:
The Council has set an ambitious target to develop 300 affordable new homes during the period 2015 – 2026 and a further 1,000 new affordable new homes over the period 2025 – 2036. This will include those built at Otterpool Park, acquisitions and s106 contributions from private housing developments
But what does affordable mean? Well the official definition is as follows:
Affordable housing: housing for sale or rent, for those whose needs are not met by the market (including housing that provides a subsidised route to home ownership and/or is for essential local workers).
This is broken down into the following types of affordable homes
Affordable Housing for rent
Shared Ownership
Discounted Market Sale
First Homes
Rent to Buy
Help to Buy
A fuller definition of each type of Affordable Housing can be found here by clicking this blue link
Building council homes is risky business, as tenants can buy them and once they’re gone, they’re gone.
In March 2023, research by Savills for the Local Government Association, indicated 100,000 homes are likely to be sold through the Right To Buy (RTB) scheme by 2030, with just 43,000 replaced as significant discounts leave councils without funding to replace the much-needed homes on a like-for-like basis.
Since 1980/81, Folkestone & Hythe District Council have sold 2,313 Council homes through the Right To Buy scheme, according to DLUHC. We currently have 3,393 Council. And since 2012/13, we’ve sold 155 homes raising £13,240,000 over the last ten years.
So as you see, building Council homes is a risky business. But it should not stop any party from building them
Where would the money come from to build these homes (not including the 1,300), and to build them in sufficient quantity to ease the pressure on the lack of affordable housing in our district?
Well Banks is an obvious answer; from the PWLB is another, as this borrowing is mainly for capital projects, or using reserves, or selling assets (Connect 38) and going into partnership with developers who know how to build, and deliver new homes. Can you think of other ways?
If I had my way, I’d allow Councils to issue mortgages again, that would really help, but alas Mrs T burnt that bridge.
But building affordable homes as set out above is not all a future Council should consider. There are those who would like the opportunity to buy their own home and it is possible to design a house that could be sold for less than £180,000 and still make a profit. Saying that, I just don’t think the Council should build them, as there is not the expertise within the Council. I personally believe partnership working with developers is possible, but not ones who’ve donated to the Tories, Labour or Lib Dems.
So stating something as simple as “Build more council homes to cut the waiting list“, is easy to say, but very very difficult to achieve. The party who has stated it has given no indication of how they’ll achieve this, given that retrofitting council homes to meet Net Zero Carbon targets has risen from £100m to £132m. The Council need to cut emissions from these homes, and retrofitting them will make them warmer and less expensive to heat.
So are there any solutions. Well yes of course there are. We could sell Connect 38 and collect £20m – £25m on it. Then using the proceeds to go into partnership with developers who have a proven track record on delivery. Also when the Council move its offices to Otterpool, the old offices can be sold after planning permission is granted.
Selling Princes Parade is NOT an option as “it is one of the finest vistas in the district”, and we “need to preserve the open character of a site, and its relationship to both the sea and the canal…”
As for Otterpool, the Labour party are now all for it, even though their two Cllrs on planning voted against it.
Where do I stand on Otterpool, well I am personally against it, as my great uncle owned Lympne airfield. Also I spoke to some friendly lawyers who looked at a potential Judicial Review, but after careful consideration saw no realistic chance in winning. Of course, they could be wrong, so if anyone out there has a spare £50,000 plus to spend, then you have until the 15 May to launch one.
Yes we need more housing in our district, that’s easy for any candidate, or party to say. But one has to ask:
How will they deliver them?
How much will it costs the ratepayers of the district?
And when will they deliver them by?
Purchasing the land, designing the scheme, acquiring planning permission on a site can take two to three years, if not more and building out a small number of homes can take a year or more, it might be possible to deliver new council homes within four years, but I doubt it. Of course, one could buy the land with planning permission; which cost a lot, and then one could deliver homes in two to three years.
I wish it was possibly to build more affordable and council homes more rapidly, because things are going to get a whole lot worse given the number of new homes built is predicted to fall to 110,000, forcing up house prices, and rents, due to shortages, and the only winners will be the developers not our residents who need much needed affordable and council homes.
VOTE RYLANDS
FOLKESTONE CENTRAL
MAY 4
Promoted & Published by Bryan Rylands,Flat D, Avenay Court, Sandgate Rd, Folkestone, CT20 2LN
