Over the last ten years or so, the housing market has failed to deal with the forces of supply versus demand. An ever-growing section of society, - nurses, teachers, council workers - require some form of subsidised housing. They are often referred to as the “intermediate market” – too rich for housing benefit yet too poor for full home ownership. It is worth just reflecting on the fact that while the housing sector has become less “affordable”, many other sectors and services have become more “affordable” - such as luxury goods, cars, and holidays.
There is an acute lack of affordable housing in Northumberland. Local people are
priced out of the market and unable to live in the towns and villages of their choice. The “crisis”, as it is now described, has been created by, amongst other factors, the growing numbers of second-home owners and holiday lets plus commuting workers using better transport infrastructure.
Young adults, families and older people are the sectors of society who suffer the most. When they are forced to move to find affordable accommodation elsewhere, they leave behind imbalanced and unsustainable communities; school roll numbers drop, community facilities get underused, shops and restaurants struggle to find staff, families become distant, and businesses relocate out of the area.
The Federation of Northumberland Development Trusts (FoNDT) have produced a report on Northumberland development trusts and affordable housing in order to examine the potential for Development Trusts in
Northumberland becoming more involved in delivering affordable housing projects and the associated social enterprise opportunities of such involvement.
Download the full report.
