Council prepares to offload unwanted homes

As government agencies, local authorities and housing associations struggle with the desperate shortage of affordable housing in the countryside one rural council has a very different problem.

North Kesteven council in Lincolnshire has more than 2,000 people on its housing waiting list but it is getting ready to sell off over 400 homes because tenants are becoming reluctant to move into them.

It has identified 420 houses scattered across 39 villages that it has increasingly found hard to let and which it will put on the market if tenants cannot be found the next time each of them falls empty.

The authority, which currently has 60 empty homes out of a stock of 4,200 in the district, has eased its letting requirements and is placing its empty hard-to-let houses with local estate agents in a bid to move them through the private rented sector. If it cannot, they will be put up for sale.

The problem, according to director of housing Clive Redshaw, is that many of Lincolnshire's villages have little to offer the average family. There are no schools, shops or regular bus services since the farming industry went into decline and jobs on the land became few and far between.

The only villages that are attracting would-be tenants are those with schools, shops, health centres and good transport links, especially railway stations, which they can use to travel to work in major population centres, such as Lincoln and Newark.

"There is little interest in living in these small villages," he said. "Unlike other rural areas of the country, there is no big demand for rural housing in our district. We don't want to have to sell properties, but are preparing ourselves for what may be the inevitable. It is pointless having properties standing empty."

North Kesteven finds itself in is a reversal of the problems facing other rural communities. According to the countryside agency, the only surplus housing in rural areas is to be found in Lincolnshire and former pit villages in coalfield areas, due to either low demand or poor quality stock. Authorities in other rural areas can only dream of having surplus stock for rent and it is here where there are serious problems.

In the North Yorkshire Moors national park, for example, rocketing house prices have ruled out any hope of local residents being able to buy a home, giving young people no chance of working and living where they were born and bought up.

A survey by the park planning authority shows the average price of a house is ?160,000 - 25% up on last year. The survey found only one house for sale under ?50,000 and this was a relatively small property. The vast majority of homes for sale were large properties in the four-bedroom detached category.

Figures from the agricultural wages board show that the average farm worker in the park earns ?269 a week, enabling them to get a mortgage of only ?38,736, while a skilled park estate worker earns ?242, allowing a mortgage of just under ?35,000.

The lack of affordable housing in North Yorkshire and other rural areas prompted the countryside agency to launch its rural housing enabler (RHE) scheme earlier this year.

The scheme will help assess housing needs in rural areas and RHE staff will work alongside local authorities and housing associations to identify sites where affordable housing can be developed. There are 17 RHEs already up and running and it is planned to have national coverage by 2003/2004.

One authority the countryside agency is already working alongside is Derbyshire Dales council, which has seen much of its young population forced out of the area because of both the high cost of property and the lack of affordable housing.

The authority stretches over much of the Peak District, where down the years there has been exceptional demand for second homes, pushing up prices and pushing local people out of the housing market.

With its close proximity to the cities of Manchester, Sheffield, Derby and Nottingham, wealthier members of the business community have found the area very attractive to live in and relatively easy to commute from.

"The locals can't compete with these people or the families wanting holiday homes," says housing services manager Raymond Kinsella. "And because council tenants knew they were never going to be able to afford to buy into the local property market, they jumped at the chance to purchase their homes under the right-to-buy."

The result of that was over 2,000 properties from the council's housing stock sold off to sitting tenants, leaving 3,200 in local authority control and with a waiting list of 1,400 hopefuls.

"There are limitations to what can be done to address the problem," says Mr Kinsella. "There are a number of housing associations that have undertaken developments but the young people have left in droves for towns and cities nearby where they have a realistic chance of renting a property or buying at a price they can afford."

And the Derbyshire housing manager has a word of caution for his colleagues in Kesteven. "If they have to sell them off, I hope that they are first offered individually, at knock down prices, to local people. It would be a tragedy if those homes fell into the hands of someone who exploited the situation for financial gain when in other parts of the country we are crying out for affordable homes.