South West Housing Initiative

SOUTH WEST’S HOUSING CRISIS THREATENS JOBS

Availability and affordability of homes is hitting employers‘ ability to recruit and retain staff, contain wage-costs, and compete

Employers back the release of redundant employment sites for housing

More than half of South West employers (54%) say that the availability and affordability of housing is now a major issue for their business.

Almost half (49%) report that there is a shortage of homes, whether for rent or purchase, within easy commuting distance of their business. Most (82%) back the idea of releasing redundant employment sites for housing.

These are the top-line findings of a survey of regional employers, commissioned by the South West Housing Initiative (SWHI) – a unique partnership of the largest house-builders, housing associations, and professions involved in housing delivery.

Faced with the UK‘s biggest housing crisis, the South West has the largest affordability gap between average house prices and average earnings, and a growing shortfall between demand and delivery of new homes.

For 44% of South West employers, the availability and cost of housing is damaging their competitive position.

Backed by the Home Builders Federation, the National Housing Federation, the Chartered Institute of Housing, the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors), the Royal Town Planning Institute, the CBI, EDF and Clarke Willmott lawyers, the South West Housing Initiative commissioned Bristol-based MSS Research to conduct a survey among South West employers.

According to Michael Clarke, Chairman of the SWHI, former CBI Chairman for the South West and a partner at law firm Clarke Willmott: “We already knew that the South West has the country‘s biggest housing crisis. The results of this research highlight how that problem is now threatening the region‘s economy.”

The great majority of respondents to the employers‘ survey (82%) backed the idea of local planners releasing redundant employment sites for mixed-use redevelopment, to provide homes and modern business accommodation.

Debbie Wheatley, Group Director of Operations at Magna Housing Group and of the Chartered Institute of Housing who sponsored the survey explained: “The South West has less brownfield land for housing development than many other regions, but the decline in manufacturing means that there are areas with closed factories and old-style office buildings for which there is no market demand – but which can be redeveloped to provide homes and contemporary employment space for which there is a real demand.”

“It does mean, though, that those councils must grasp this change”, said Ms Wheatley.

Almost half (46%) of South West employers also agreed that local planners must release more land for development, to provide new homes – including affordable housing – within easy commuting reach of their business.

This raises the spectre of NIMBY opposition – the biggest challenge facing the South West, according to SWHI partners.

SWHI Manager, Martin Willey, said: “Right now, the South West is generating 25,000 new households every year, but latest Government statistics show that the region‘s housing delivery is much closer to just 17,000 new homes per year.

“The NIMBY factor is one of the biggest barriers to enabling our partners to deliver the required number of properties - including mixed schemes providing sustainable communities and affordable homes for local people and key workers in both urban and rural areas.

“The results of our employers‘ survey underline the threat to the South West economy of this NIMBY barrier. House-prices and life-style will suffer if key workers, in both the public and private sectors, have to move to other regions to find an affordable home”, warned Martin Willey.

“Unfortunately, the NIMBY lobby can be very compelling for local politicians, who need to understand the bigger picture dictating the future of their local community and economy. Rising house-prices may seem like a ‘good thing‘: but they are driving young people and key-workers out of the South West”, he warned.

At their latest annual conference, the SWHI partners shared best-practice examples of delivering high quality and affordable housing in sustainable communities throughout the South West. The event was attended by MPs and council representatives from throughout the region.

“Our partners have shown that they can solve the South West‘s housing crisis – but only if Government and local councils will grasp the need to provide the land, the infrastructure, and the planning consents”, said Mr Willey.

END 14th July 2006

For further information please contact David Sturgess on 01275 349011 or email david@sturgessvandamme.co.uk or Martin Willey on 07836 315896 or email willeyytp@aol.com

NOTES TO EDITORS

i. The South West Housing Initiative is a unique partnership – viewed as a national pilot-trial for the UK;

ii. Partners in the South West Housing Initiative include:

- The Home Builders‘ Federation (HBF) – representing the region‘s largest house-builders;

- The National Housing Federation (NHF) – representing the region‘s largest housing associations;

- The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) – representing housing professionals;

- The CBI – representing employers;

- The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) – representing professional planners;

- The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) – representing chartered surveyors;

- Law firm, Clarke Willmott

- EDF Energy

iii. The SWHI‘s employers‘ survey has been supported by the CBI, BEMA, and Business West.

iv. The SWHI believes that the South West must deliver at least 25,000 new homes per year for the next 20 years – and that they must provide mixed-occupancy solutions (combining freehold, shared-ownership, and rental) in locations related to need (rural and urban, and within environmentally sound commuting distance of employers).

v. The SWHI partners are all involved in delivering new homes in the South West, and have assembled examples of ‘best practice‘ in the region to prove that their objectives are deliverable;

vi. The independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation has identified the South West as having Britain‘s biggest housing crisis and “affordability-gap” – the difference between average house prices and average earnings;

vii. Recent reports have also identified the South West as having the biggest house-price-inflation, the biggest proportion of second-home ownership, and the biggest concentration of “wealthy retired” home-buyers.