Maltheus applauds the moves over the past few years to try and make more cheap housing in both the countryside and within the city centre. In Norwich alone there are hundreds of flats being made along the Riverside in town. Most of them will be priced around the £200,000 mark and totally unaffordable to the average buyer. However, some of these can be bought on a shared equity scheme whereby buyers can part buy their houses or flats. It's not ideal but it allows for a half step onto the ladder.
Norfolk County Council apparently has 16,500 acres under its control. Not all of this is fresh, green land and Maltheus has a little bit of a NIMBY tendency about churning up green field sites for housing. However, some of it has to go - Not all needs to be sacrificed for a new Norfolk Milton Keynes but some green land but mostly brownfield sites should be used for new developments committed to affordable housing.
At the recent sale of RAF Coltishall houses were going for £118,702 - £154,802. This is a fair price and accessible to most new buyers on fair wages. There were only 48 houses though so it hardly scrapes the surface. With housing shortages in small villages, a NIMBY tendency, reluctance to churn up new development sites and developers keen to target more lucrative estates there's alot to be done to reverse this situation!
Snobbery on behalf of some developers in their attitude towards low cost housing and the government needs to tackle those unscrupulous housing developers who swoop onto new developments, buy them up before the first bricks have been layed and prevent genuine first buyers from purchasing houses near where they live.
4 comments:
The demand for affordable homes is about 7,500 per year apparently. Where in Norfolk would you like to build a town the size of Wymondham annually?
I don't have a map on me right now - But i suggest that building more houses is the right direction and if needed on greenbelt! What do you suggest as a alternative then?
The demand for new homes in Norfolk is nothing like the figure quoted by Mr Anonymous.
In North Norfolk we were asked to find space for about 3000 new homes over the next 15-20 years.
The real problem with the housing market is second homes. People speculate and but second homes to let. in my opinion, second homes should be punitively taxed. Make them pay at least 200% of the council tax (not the 90% maximum that can currently be levied) or go even firther and make it a 500% levy. the money raised could then be put to use by councils to spend on affordable housing in co-ownership that could then be kept out of the hands of prospectors looking for a second home to own.
I should stress, this is my own personal view, not the view of the Lib Dems.
The figure is from the local council's housing needs surveys.
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