The country is officially in a housing crisis with demand outstripping supply and not enough affordable homes, writes Sue Reece, resulting in increased prices for buyers and private renters, which further pushes up the need for more management of social housing.
County Durham currently manages 43,000 lets through its four main partners; Livin, Believe Housing, Karbon Homes and North Star Housing, and an additional 15 registered partners who let properties to people on the housing register.
Since the pandemic, the waiting list for social housing has increased by 57% from 7,000 to 11,000.
In 2023/24 88% of all lets went to people presenting with more pressing needs than housing. This includes urgent medical priorities, severely overcrowding, statutorily homeless and care leavers.
The average bids on social housing has increased from four to 44 bids per property and there is a significant shortage of larger family homes (4-bedroom properties).
The current register has 223 active applicants but in 2023/24 less than 1% of all lets were 4-bedroom properties (18 properties in all).
In some towns they are reporting other pressures, for example in Chilton respondents to the Neighbourhood Plan have identified a lack of available bungalows to provide supported care.
In other areas the increase in homelessness is forcing the use of more temporary accommodation, or people to move into un-managed private rental properties at risk of signing sham agreements or licences that offer little or no protection from unreasonable notice periods, lack of exclusive possession of the property, or reasonable rental fees.
So what can, and is, being done?
To address issues for a more sustainable solution in your area, Neighbourhood (and community) Plans can identify local issues that will override the Countywide Allocation Policy, through the development of a Local Letting Policy which identifies issues specific to the town, for example demand for affordable houses or anti-social behaviour (ASB), or the requirement for Selective Licensing.
Selective Licencing came into force in April 2022 for 103 areas of County Durham.
It gives powers to regulate landlords and management agents of private rented properties.
It is designed to improve management standards, provide safe and healthy homes by reducing hazards and repairs and further reducing ASB.
In addition, Durham County Council (DCC) have an open consultation on the current Housing Allocation Policy which can be accessed at letstalkcountydurham.co.uk/.
For assistance now, DCC’s Private Rented Housing Team will be offering drop-in sessions across the county.
The first session will be held at Chilton Town Council on Tuesday 11 March from 9am-1pm, providing advice to tenants and private landlords on the legal processes involved in signing up for a private rental property.
If you have issues with your private rented property you can email privaterentedhousing[@]durham[.]gov[.]uk for advice.
The team will be joined in Hutton House by Livin Housing who will be here to carry out their digital drop-in session and Nigel from the Ladder Centre will also be on hand to provide additional advice and support.
For further information on the drop-in day or any issues raised in the report, email: info[@]chiltondurham-tc[.]gov[.]uk or neighbourhoodplan[@]chiltondurham-tc[.]gov[.]uk.
Ferryhill & Chilton's local community newspaper.
