Affordable housing.

GTB · Affordable housing.

Does Calne need more affordable housing to meet the growing demands? Where will these new houses go etc?

Local lass

no no no and no.calne already has enough housesand all further developement should be looked at hard.we do not need these lego town estates which are springing up with houses with no drives and the roads so narrow.

rosco

GTB

There has to be affordable housing in every town - how else can a family get a foot hold on the property ladder? I take your point about the narrow roads and no driveways but the solution to that problem should be solved during the planning stages.

Local lass

they now mix afordable houses with private houses which isnt a bad idea as they all blend in.to do a block of afordable houses then they should definatly not do that.you only have to look at the new stokes croft to see that the houses there are a eye sore where the wood is not treated .great idea in theory and they looked quite good for the first year but now they all look that they have been fire damaged where the wood has gone black .

Peter Dolman

all new housing developments will only be passed by planners if there is an agreed number of "affordable" houses included in the development.

the actual numbers built per hectare is laid down by the planners (not sure what that number is as it keeps changing) and this is part of the reason why we now have skinney houses with 3 or even 4 floors and no gardens.

what i would like to know is what is an "affordable house" as i have yet to receive a definative answer to that question, anyone out there confident to give me one?

rosco

GTB

I suppose affordable housing would possibly equate to 3 or 4 times your salary if your on the minimum wage? It's a definition that is hard to pin down really.

Peter Dolman

on minimum wages a 40 hour week would be approx£12-£14,000 per annum. to obtain a mortgage with a minimum 25% deposit and a maximum ratio of 3.5 to 1 would be realistic in todays market place. this would mean buying a property for approx £56,000 to £64,000.
if that is the case house prices have some way to fall.

Chepfer

Affordable housing relates to social housing, not private.

Social housing allows people on a low income to rent a proerty of there own at a low weekly rent.

This home may then be purchaced under the governments "Right to buy" and "right To aquire" shemes, when they are able to afford it in the future.

Other affordable housing schemes include the Low cost housing scheme (was shared ownership), in which you pay a mortgage on half of the property while the landlord pay the other half .... you gradualy pay for more and more of a share in a property until you can afford to have a mortgage for the whole amount.

I guess the term affordable would be attributed to "Living in a house that you can afford to live in" whether rented or owned.

GTB

Nice to have a man in the know, Chepfer.

Peter Dolman

with the drop in house values there appears to be an increase in rental values. does this mean that there has to be a subsidy for either option?

GTB

I was chatting to an estate agent the other day who told me that the renting side of the housing business is almost at saturation point and that rentals would have to come down this year to be more competitive or lose out. The buy-to-let mortgage business he reckons is almost dead in the water.

Peter Dolman

I think its down to nthe estate agent you speak to and how strong the wind is.

Chepfer

If you look around at private rental. The private market is quite stagnant.

The rental costs have risen in line with the rising costs of tax, insurance and the like.

Theres one next to me for rent and has been for eight months, it's a 2 bed house and it'll cost you £550 per month. Put that into perspective and you can have a mortgage on a 3 bed house for less than that

For people loosing there jobs and wanting a rented property, these private rents are as expensive (or more so) than having a mortgage.

The only viable option is to obtain an association house, though the waiting list is off the scale at present due to the present circumstances.

Chuck

The new town centre development has affordable housing as part of its rationale. Even though, sadly, Woolies is not part of it now the contingencies are in place for a key retailer to replace them.

Chuck

Bear

jolou39

I f the recession deepens there will be a greater need for social housing.

Most Housing Associations and Councils have incredibly long waiting lists and there are not enough houses/flats to in anyway meet demand...

Chepfer

So very true jolou.

The government are about to announce a new scheme which will allow large building companies to be able to offer social housing.

So the likes of persimmon, if they meet all the criteria, will be able to build social housing and rent it. So long as they offer everything that people like westlea offer, ie, maintenence, estate management, adaptations for disabled and quality builds (which will be there biggest struggle) !.

It will get the builders building again, increase stock and help people on low incomes have a roof over there heads !.

Chuck · Affordable Housing

Through our work on Built Environment and Housing the District has made sure that over 40 affordable units will be availble in Calne which is a step forwards for those who struggle to afford to live in Calne.

Cheers,

Chuck

Peter Dolman

Do't mean to be a little cynical but developers are more ameanable to building affordable housing at this time as they know they will get paid. Houses for sale are standing unsold and are a considerable drain on the developers cashflow. Yes we do need affordable housing but we will also need it in years to come and while 40 are welcome the need for many more is still there.

Chepfer

Westlea Housing have recently been awarded an addition £23 million on top of the existing budget to build more affordable housing in the area.

Some of this, i am sure, will filter through to calne and it's needs.

More to follow when i get an update ........

jolou39

on the new homes4wiltshire site you can see how many people are "bidding" for properties on the housing association lists in this area.

Some properties had over 90 bids - there is clearly a need for an awful lot more homes!!

Peter Dolman

What happens if you don't have a computer or an internet connection. See last weeks gazette and herald (calne page) for such a situation.

jolou39

I asked that very question in work today - I didn't get a straight answer!

Both my parents are hoping to get a housing assoc. place (they are not together) but neither uses computers.......I have said I will look for them but it does seem too complicated for older people to deal with.

Affordable housing.

Affordable Housing