Tameside Housing Conference
Tameside Housing Conference 2009
Text Version
Councillor Brenda Warrington
The purpose of today is to bring together people from across Tameside who have various interests in housing, very different aspects to involve them in shaping Tameside’s strategy for our future housing.
It’s something that is clearly high on everyone’s agenda. It’s something that there are interests in from many different aspects whether your interest is for the elderly, the families, whether it’s for the economic situation, to assist developers, but certainly we know that in Tameside we need to develop far better affordable housing what we also want is quality housing.
Iain Wright MP, Junior Housing Minister
I really acknowledge and welcome what Tameside are doing in terms of being ambitious for housing. I think this conference is a sign of that ambition and I’m really delighted to be asked to come along here to talk about the Government context of all this, about affordable housing, about how we need to do as much as we can to minimise repossessions and also the current role of the private rental sector about two recently completed pieces of research in the housing markets and house conditions in the private sector which would both help largely to determine the approach taken in the new strategy. We’re determined, ladies and gentlemen to ensure that.
We’re determined ladies and gentlemen to ensure that households experiencing difficulty with their mortgage payments get real help now to stay in their home. The fact that we’re facing quite challenging economic times and as a consequence of this deliverability and affordability of housing is being tested. We’ve got a continual need to invest in new housing especially affordable and social housing.
Huw Davies
By 2026 we predict that Tameside will need around thirteen and a half thousand new homes. Tameside is extraordinarily well placed to benefit from the economic growth that will occur in the next ten to fifteen years but housing quality in place is important for everybody its important to all people in our community.
Iain Wright MP, Junior Housing Minister
We’re bringing forward quite considerable spends from the Homes and Communities Agency something like seven hundred and seventy-five million pounds to help on new social housing. There is a budget announced a full package of housing of something like a billion pounds which is stimulating house building activity help for the vulnerable, long term recovery and better and more energy efficient homes. And as part of our affordable housing offer our low cost home ownership products offer first time buyers a realistic chance of getting onto the property ladder.
Future Role of the Private Rented Sector
the private rental sector is a valued part of the housing it provides an important part in providing choice and flexibility at all levels across the housing market. Most people will have rented at some point in their lives and most of them it has to be said will have done so satisfactorily and successfully but housing needs continue to be a deep concern for many people. The professional high quality private rental sector which is aware of its responsibilities to tenants but giving freedom and flexibility to grow is a welcome part of the housing offer and we’re very keen to see the private rented sector thrive and expand and for it to offer a housing solution for a growing number of people who are unable or unwilling to buy in the current market. With almost 2.8 million tenants currently renting from about one million private landlords, we also want to improve the quality of the sector by increasing professionalism, driving out bad landlords and improving the quality of the housing stock.
Gary Jackson, Director, Michael Dyson Associates
Thirty-two percent of properties across the borough failed the Decent Homes Standard in one way shape or form and that amounts to roundabout twenty-four thousand properties. There needs to be eleven thousand properties that are occupied by vulnerable householders that need to be brought up to a reasonable standard as well as about seven thousand properties that need some kind of intervention by the Council because they are classed as Category 1 HHRS hazards. The investment required is roundabout a hundred and thirty-six million pounds so magnitude is on average round about per property and obviously not everybody’s got the capacity or the will to invest at that level and in terms of the highest number of vulnerable households properties we’ve identified Mossley, Ashton Waterloo, Ashton Hurst and Droylsden East and these are predominantly twentieth century properties.
Iain Wright MP, Junior Housing Minister
We need more than just Central Government action. It’s going to take a really strong partnership approach with Local Authorities, Housing Associations and developers all stepping up to the plate and being prepared to do things differently.
Dr Michael Bullock, Director, ARC4
You are part of a much wider housing market area which takes in parts of Manchester, Stockport, Oldham and High Peak so strategically you need to be aware that you’ve got those interactions with other areas. And in terms of household growth you’re expected to grow quite a bit, about a quarter between now and 2031 and in particular that’s going to be driven by growth single person households. The big thing there is the number of people aged sixty and over and that’s going to change. The number of people sixty to seventy four is going to go up by a third, the people aged seventy-five and over is going to go up seventy percent. It’s going to go up from about fifteen thousand people now to getting on for twenty-six thousand people in 2031.
In terms of existing households, we identified just over five thousand planning to move in the next couple years the modelling suggests a shortfall of about four hundred and twenty-four affordable dwellings each year. We’re suggesting that is the measure of the imbalance of what exist between what we’ve got now and what would be an ideal situation to satisfy broadband clients.
Huw Davies
The great success story in the renewal of our service council sector and the sort of transfer policies that we’ve followed which means now we have quality of housing of stock in terms of housing sector which is probably as good as anywhere in the country.
Councillor Brenda Warrington
Well the workshops will have the opportunity to debate, to discuss, to throw in different ideas, to question some of the perhaps statistics that we’ve heard today and that will help to form some thinking, some a bit of brainstorming really is what we’re looking for.
Attendee Comments
Anne Cooney, Project Manager, Vernon House
Today’s been a really good event, it’s obviously been well facilitated, well planned and there’s been MPs here and other key speakers. It’s enabled me as a Project Manager to have a say in what we thinks' important and for our service user and for our projects, for ideas to go into our housing strategy.
Hazel Clarke, Team Leader, Tenancy Support
And for us really raising awareness of the partnership working that we’ve got with the agencies that are here I’m really looking forward to the workshop this afternoon to see which way we can move forward.
Scott Winstanley, Customer Services Team Leader
I think also one of the main things is customer service involvement that’s one of the things we’re trying to promote through the Tameside Housing Service at the moment and obviously that can help formulate a strategy or go along with that from the customer’s point of view.
Ian Schofield, Supporting Housing Manager, New Charter
It’s vital that we all support the strategy and the housing strategy and learn how to work as partners to find the best solutions for homeless families in Tameside.
Scott Winstanley, Customer Services Team Leader
That’s the biggest resource that we’ve got available at the moment is the private rented sector obviously through the bond scheme and things that we have now maybe moving towards landlord accreditation and things like that. That’s what we have to get involved with to try and you know share up some of the properties that we know are out there but aren’t being accessed.
Councillor Brenda Warrington
It’s very, very important to us the people have had the opportunity to a) know the issues and to b) help us to shape that strategy.