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Over the past twenty years or so, tenure patterns have changed considerably:
owner occupation
has grown, while social housing has declined. The right-to-buy policy significantly
reduced the
social housing stock; Councils have not undertaken new house building; and
registered social
landlords have built relatively few new homes. At the 2001 Census, 66.9% of
households in County
Durham were owner-occupiers. The figure for Darlington was 71.7%, above the
average for
England and Wales of 68.9%.
Much old and obsolete stock has been cleared or renovated, and there has been
substantial new
private house building in recent years. However, there are large numbers of
unfit dwellings in some
areas. In April 2004, Easington had more than 14% of its housing stock classified
as ‘unfit’, well
above the national average (England: 4.8%). Derwentside (8.5%) and Wear Valley
(5.7%) were also
above national average, while Darlington was at the national average.
House prices are still amongst the lowest in the country. Recent ‘catching
up’, as inflationary
pressure has rippled northwards, has now slowed. Over the year to March 2007,
the North East
had the second lowest price increase (after the East Midlands) of any region
and continued to be
the region with lowest average house price. And County Durham has house prices
well below the
regional average (Table 9).
Despite lower house prices and, more generally, less pressure on the housing
market than in many
other places, there are individuals and families in the area who are struggling
to gain access to
adequate housing. The County Durham LAA notes that
‘in 2004, [in the County], a total of 1509 households out of a total
of 2972 presentations
were accepted as homeless, in priority need and not intentional. Sixty percent
of these
1509 households had either dependent children or unborn babies as part of
them,
totalling at least 1493 children’.
In 2005/06, the total number of households accepted as being homeless and
in priority need was
93,980 in England, amounting to a rate of 4.5 per 1000 households (DCLG, 2006).
Darlington,
Chester-le-Street, Teesdale and Wear Valley were below that rate. But several
districts in County
Durham had above average homelessness rates: Derwentside (5.9 per 1000), Easington
(5.9),
Durham (6.8) and Sedgefield (7.1).
The increasing number of 16/17 year olds presenting as homeless is a particular
concern, and
reducing that has been identified as a ‘stretch’ target in County
Durham’s Local Area Agreement.
Local agencies also recognise that there is considerable ‘hidden homelessness’
amongst young
people and, also, other groups.
There is a growing need for specialised housing provision – for example,
supported housing for
people with drug and alcohol problems, homeless people, individuals leaving
care, ex-offenders,
refugees, victims and survivors of domestic violence. Here, as elsewhere,
there is a shortage of
housing adapted for the needs of disabled people.
And, for lower income households, affordability can be a real problem, particularly
in rural areas
such as Teesdale, but also other price ‘hotspots’ such as Darlington
and Durham city centre. Even
in disadvantaged parts of County Durham, home ownership will be beyond the
reach of many firsttime
buyers, single people, and those on low incomes.
