Important investment in housing

PERUSING the local housing market is one of the great British pastimes. But in the current era, for most of us it’s a bit like watching a new Netflix horror series.

It’s obvious that the housing market is broken and has been for years.

There are some property prices that bring it into clear focus.

That was my reaction when I looked at the listing of some new homes built a few hundred yards from my front door.

The newbuild properties look fairly standard.

They have three bedrooms and a living area downstairs.

It looks like there’s a little space for parking a car and the outdoor area is small.

That’s not unusual for a town centre property.

What does seem unusual is the price: £1.1million.

Now, I know that Cheltenham is a brilliant place to live.

But I struggle to see how these new homes justify their price tag.

The estate agents will fairly point out that the homes are high spec.

Developers will point to the fact that construction costs have increased a lot already and are increasing still.

But these sort of house prices are not just the result of recent economic shocks.

This is about the failure of the system, going back over many years.

And who are the victims of this economic failure? It’s nearly all of us.

The young person who wants to leave home, the 30-somethings stuck in house shares, the first-time buyers who can’t get on the housing ladder.

It’s the growing family that needs extra space, but cannot afford to upsize.

This is why it’s so important that Cheltenham invests in affordable housing.

We must intervene in the rental market and improve our local social safety net.

Ever since I’ve been involved in campaigning, I’ve made this a priority. After I took my campaign to the council a few years ago, we ended up with an investment package worth around £180million, all to be administered by Cheltenham Borough Homes.

More and more affordable homes for rent are being built in our town.

We can’t rely on the broken market to deliver enough affordable housing, but we’ll do all we can to get the best from a bad situation.