‘Time to address acute shortage of affordable homes’
Kent County Council (KCC) is seeking to put pressure on Boris Johnson’s Government to make housing more affordable across the county.
A 100-page dossier published by Maidstone County Hall outlines the major problems faced in Kent around an “acute” shortage of “genuinely” affordable housing, exacerbated by the Covid-19 emergency. Canterbury council’s leader Robert Thomas (Con), who chairs KCC’s affordable housing select committee, said: “Housing is one of the basic fundamentals of human existence.” Speaking at the committee’s last KCC virtual meeting, he added: “Whilst housing may not be a primary function of KCC, the clear link is through the many services we provide in education, adult social care and as corporate parents.
“These are all fundamental issues within the services we provide and I think badging this into a helpful area for the council and understanding its importance will be really key moving forward.”
Affordable housing is subsidised - and includes homes available to rent at 80% of the market rate, or for sale at a discount. Developers seeking to build houses for the private market are usually required to deliver affordable homes too.
But KCC’s affordable housing committee has called on County Hall’s economic development cabinet member, Cllr Mike Whiting (Con), to write to Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick to change national housing policy.
It wants local authorities to have more control over the provision of truly affordable housing.
The letter would ask Whitehall to reform its current Right to Buy system, where tenants of council or housing association homes are helped to purchase them at a lower price, to allow local authorities to set the discount locally.
Members also want to promote an “infrastructure first” approach to future developments, constructing schools, hospitals and transport hubs prior to new housing.
The KCC committee has suggested creating a county-wide Housing Growth Unit which will be used to bid for Government funds to invest in housing projects; offering support to the county’s 12 local planning authorities when needed and “streamlining” low-cost housing delivery in Kent. In addition, Cllr Thomas says the Kent councillors are seeking to change Government’s “arbitrary” definition of affordable housing to reflect affordability based on income rather than local market prices.
In the council dossier, he says: “Government defines affordable rent as one that is at least 20% below local market rent.
“In Kent, where housing is less affordable than the national average, this definition can easily mislead and mask the problem.”
KCC’s study has found that housing is more expensive in Kent than the national average and the south east as a whole. In the last financial year, the number of affordable homes built in Kent was 1,756, which accounts for 23% of new builds between April 2018 to April 2019. In comparison, the research also shows that this is far lower than the average percentage in England at 35%.
Cllr Trevor Bond (Con), of Deal and Walmer, a KCC select committee member, said: “Kent