Wyre attacks Shelter over housing statistics

19 Mar 2010, 12:54

Michael Hunt

Wyre Council has hit back at claims made by charity Shelter that the borough ranks among the worst in the country for delivering enough affordable homes to meet local need.

Garry Payne, director of planning and regeneration at the council, said: "I am very disappointed at the blinkered comments by Shelter chief executive Campbell Robb claiming that Wyre needs to work harder to provide affordable homes.

"Had he taken the time to talk to us rather than accept the figures at face value he would have learned about the strong commitment of the council and its partners and the large strides we have already taken towards meeting almost impossible targets.

"Since 2008, our planning committee has granted approval to developments across Wyre with provision for a total of 232 affordable homes, with another 29 pending, although some of these have stalled due to market conditions

"We have also supported one developer in successfully securing almost £1m of Kick Start funding which means 58 affordable homes in Fleetwood in addition to those already secured via a section 106 agreement, giving a total of 70.

"And our largest registered social landlord, Regenda, has declared Wyre a gold authority for development investment after having to prioritise the areas it focuses development on. To have them pledge a long-term partnership with the borough shows they recognise our proactive approach to proving affordable homes.

"It is correct to state that 600 affordable homes per year are needed to meet need in Wyre and this is in addition to market housing. What has to be realised is that a borough that is 60% rural, open countryside and green belt, will never be able to develop out at such a high level.

"In addition, housing associations would never be able to access funds to support development of such magnitude.

"What Mr Robb also fails to recognise is that Wyre historically had a significant number of families on the homeless list but through the introduction of an imaginative homelessness policy, for the past two years the level of homeless families has been maintained at zero per cent. We welcome comments from Mr Robb on this significant achievement."

Founded in 1966, Shelter is a charity that was set up to help secure affordable housing for those who are homeless or are suffering in bad housing conditions.

Shelter said councils across England have been ranked "on the extent to which they and their partners have met the need for new affordable housing in their area". Shelter said this has been done using data sources in the public arena.

Shelter added that it looked at the average number of new affordable homes delivered in each area over a three year period, using statistics taken from the Communities and Local Government website. It said it gave "the fairest assessment as it takes account of the situation over time, smoothing out temporary blips".

Shelter then divided the average number of new affordable homes delivered by the number of new affordable homes needed in each area each year. Shelter said this showed what percentage of the annual need for new affordable homes is being met. It argued that "the more the council met the need for affordable housing, the higher the council appears on the ranking".

The housing league for the North West produced by Shelter showed the following results:

Council	Population density	Affordable housing delivered	Affordable housing needed (Shelter's experts' estimates)	Proportion of affordable need delivered %	Overall rank
Warrington	1,086	270	171	158	4
Halton	1,514	90	118	76	18
Barrow	921	13	20	67	22
Blackpool	4,064	63	140	45	38
Cheshire East	310	247	577	43	43
Bolton	1,880	137	347	39	57
Blackburn with Darwen	1,027	133	426	31	78
Rochdale	1,305	90	299	30	83
Preston	927	83	401	21	138
Oldham	1,543	70	343	20	143
Liverpool	3,888	463	2,345	20	153
Tameside	2,089	110	569	19	156
Carlisle	100	37	221	17	172
Lancaster	250		495	16	176
Cheshire West & Chester	359	80	1,192		177
St Helens	1,302	187	306	15	185
Trafford	2,007	47	892	15	191
Eden	24	33	227	15	196
South Lakeland	68	97	733	13	209
Manchester	4,014	317	2,448	13	215
Salford	2,277	167	1,327	13	217
Ribble Valley	100	30	264	11	230
Knowsley	1,744	90	826	11	235
Stockport	2,229	93	875	11	239
Wyre	393	53	590	9	263