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Magna Housing decision to Sell Social Housing in West Dorset

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Bridport Area Neighbourhood Plan Housing Group – Response to Magna Housing decision to Sell Social Housing in West Dorset

 

Cllr Ros Kayes’ dismay that Magna Housing intend to sell social rented homes is understandable. Whatever Magna’s reasons, this news is difficult to reconcile with the fact that 283 households (about 1 in every 30 in the Bridport area) are on the Housing Register as being homeless or “unsuitably accommodated”. These residents are unlikely ever to be able to buy a home, they struggle to meet private rental costs, endure overcrowding and often share with others. We must all find this unacceptable.

Consequently the Bridport Area Neighbourhood Plan Housing Group strongly supports the need for more social rented housing. They have identified an across-the-board need for lower-cost open market housing at prices more in reach of locals, in preference to housing built predominantly to serve affluent second-home owners and retirees from outside the area. ‘Social rent’ for a three bedroomed home will, Magna advises, cost around £105 per week. That is affordable by local standards.

Around 1,000 new homes are currently planned for Bridport of which 250 should be a mixture of ‘social rented’ and ‘affordable rented’. However ‘Affordable’ rent is specified by the government as being up to 80% of private rent, equating to at least £150 per week for a three bedroomed ‘affordable’ home. Nationally accepted criteria show that over half the households in Bridport simply cannot afford this. It is misleading to say that rents priced at 80% of private market rents are ‘affordable’ here.

Housing Associations prefer to provide ‘affordable rented’ homes – they get a much better return on their investment and since the government does not subsidise social housing the chance of many ‘social rented’ homes being built in Bridport is slim.

Spokesmen of both local and central government keep reassuring us that ‘affordable’ housing is on its way. Yes, more housing may be on its way but affordable it isn’t, at least not to those in housing need. It is of concern that the District Council simply does not know how many new social rented properties are to be built in Bridport, having no power to dictate the number.

The sad fact is that the District Council’s 2015 Local Plan is not going to help those desperate people on the Housing Register and those suffering housing poverty. The people of Bridport need to understand this.

Roy Mathisen

Bridport

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Exploding the Vearse Farm myth

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Up to 186 new affordable rented homes could be built on the prop…osed Vearse Farm housing development. That is great news for those people in Bridport who are struggling to pay high private sector rents, many of whom are on low incomes. But exactly how affordable will these new homes be? Will they really solve Bridport’s affordable housing crisis?

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) defines affordable rent as up to 80% of local market rent. So, what does that mean? The cheapest three bedroomed homes available for rent at the moment in Bridport cost £750 per month. 80% of that is £600 per month. Is that affordable? The accepted wisdom is that rent should be no more than a quarter of a household’s gross income. So, for £600 per month to be genuinely affordable the household income needs to be at least £28,800 per year and yet the median household income in west Dorset is £25,659. Therefore more than half of households in west Dorset would not be able to pay the so called affordable rent on a three bedroomed home. So, will the new affordable homes on Vearse Farm solve our housing crisis? Of course not. It is really quite shameful that local people are being led to believe that West Dorset District Council’s housing plans are going to solve our affordable housing crisis when it is simply not true.

What is really needed is social rented housing but there are no plans at all for any new social rented housing on Vearse Farm.

Roy Mathisen,

Bridport

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Letter wrt VF in Bridport News on 22 December 2016

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Every Year More People Die in West Dorset than are Born
Yes, more people die here than are born and yet the Office of National Statistics notes that the population of west Dorset is set to increase every year. How on earth can that happen? It is because we have a large amount of in-migration here. Every year. Mainly from London and the south east. People coming to retire here. Lots and lots of them with the result that …Bridport has 70% more people over 65 than the national average. Nothing wrong in that, but there have got to be limits. Meanwhile countless young people on low incomes in Bridport can only dream of buying a home here at current market prices. These are our people, Bridport’s own people, far too many living in housing poverty. There are currently over 250 households in Bridport on the Housing Register which means that they are either homeless or in unsuitable accommodation. In Bridport. Is that acceptable in our prosperous modern society?

Meanwhile, West Dorset District Council have decided that 500 new homes for sale are to be built on Vearse Farm in Bridport. Will that help? Who will buy them? The simple fact is that everyone in Bridport who can afford to buy a home in Bridport has already got one. So, who will buy all these new ones? The likelihood is that the lion’s share of these new homes on Vearse Farm will be bought by affluent incoming retirees. A good number will be bought as holiday homes as well. We already know that the so-called affordable rented homes on Vearse Farm will probably be too expensive for over half our population. So the point of the 500 homes to be built for sale in Bridport is what, exactly? Answers on a post card please. Addressed to West Dorset District Council.

Roy Mathisen,

Bridport