City house prices could make government plan 'untenable' - Oxford
09-08-2015
Andrew Gant outside the new affordable flats in Thames Street, Oxford
Oxford Mail: Photograph of the Author
Matt Oliver, Reporter covering North Oxford, Jericho and Summertown. Call me on 01865 425498 / 06:00
CREATIVE solutions to Oxford’s housing shortage are being called for after it emerged that a flagship Government housebuilding programme might not work in the city.
Andrew Gant, a member of Oxford City Council’s housing scrutiny panel, said new ideas were needed to battle soaring house prices and a lack of availability.
His comments came after housing charity Shelter revealed analysis claiming most first-time buyers in Oxford would be locked out of the Government’s Starter Homes programme because they did not earn enough money and average house prices were simply too high.
Mr Gant said other options needed to be urgently looked at instead, such as pod housing and more key worker housing.
He said: “It is a huge problem because in Oxford we have large numbers of highly-skilled people at the beginning of their careers but they cannot afford to stay here.
“We need more creative solutions, such as pod housing.”
Pod homes are modular and can be put up quickly in large numbers as they are pre-built, transported to the site, then stacked using cranes in a method similar to shipping containers.
Cllr Gant added: “I have seen them in London and they work. They would work here too.”
Starter homes would be built by private developers on brownfield land – usually reserved for commercial uses – at 80 per cent of market price for buyers aged under 40.
The Government has committed to building 200,000 starter homes by 2020.
But prices outside of London would be capped at £250,000, meaning in Oxford – where last year the average cost of a home was £315,000 – many developments for families may not be viable.
Wages in the city may also not be high enough, as according to payscale.com the average salary is £27,048.
Shelter said even families earning almost £80,000 would be unable to afford a starter home in Oxford, as well as couples earning £113,119 and single earners making £56,560.
It used an “affordability threshold”, based on the amount most households could afford to pay for a home on a typical first-time buyer mortgage.
Shelter said it had concerns the Government would fund discounts on starter homes by cancelling, or replacing, other forms of affordable housing.
It said: “Rather than replacing other forms of affordable housing like shared ownership and social rent, the new starter homes should be additional to them “The detail on starter homes is not yet fully clear, but the alarming possibility that they will be funded by hugely reducing the subsidy to genuinely affordable homes remains on the table.”
The scheme was defended by the Government, with a spokesman insisting there was “more to do”, and plans in motion for 275,000 affordable homes nationally.
He also pointed to other schemes, such as Help to Buy and the Right to Buy.
Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said: “We’re determined to ensure anyone who works hard and aspires to become a homeowner has the opportunity to do so.
“We have also got the country building again with new housing completions at a six-year high.
“Almost 800,000 additional homes have been delivered since the end of 2009 and over the next five years we are committed to deliver 275,000 extra affordable homes, the fastest rate of delivery for 20 years.”