[Politics] Benfield Valley - Action needed now from locals !!!

[Colonel Mustard]

Most

Are you really guessing that the number is significant?

My suggestions regarding empty properties, which includes any already up for sale or rent, is that after one year unoccupied council tax is doubled, tripled the following year and so on. At some point the owners are going to either hand over the property to the council or be forced to do so by the courts. This includes holiday homes that are empty for the majority of the year and those kept as "investments".

i think that’s the better approach. The legal disputes and red tape over trying to confiscate a property, not to mention arguments over what constitutes an empty property in the first place, would tie up courts and local government for years. On top of that, many empty houses would need massive investment to make them inhabitable. Much better to reduce the number of long term empty properties in the first place. Tax an absent owner 1% of the market value in year one, 2% in year two, and so on. A £500k house owner would have to shell out £5k then 10K… That would soon get these houses sold off or renovated and rented out. All revenue received would have to go the local authority to help the homeless. I like that idea.

 

[Weststander]

What is classed as 'affordable' housing?
Accommodation provided by council or housing associations that people that work can afford and not take 80% of their wages to keep a roof over their heads, or cheap council or housing association housing, where they put the rest who can't work so easing the burden of people on benefits? Then there are those who won't work, who expect to be housed, paid to not do anything etc, etc.
Like it or not, there is a class system in this country.
So back to my original question, what would be affordable, and for whose benefit?

I’ve real world knowledge of this. In our city they’re being taken by recently qualified teachers, also nurses, junior doctors, single parents with kids and formers immigrants/refugees with families.

Housing associations don’t make a penny of profit, developers/land owners don’t on those units handed to housing associations (hence the keenness to keep the %age low), the rent or split ownership scheme charges are at cost. The problem is that land and housing building (volumes of planning and building regs) is an incredibly expensive thing, even at cost.

The Argus comments section will have ill informed lefties claiming the social housing providers and council planning departments swap brown envelopes, or the former greedily gain. All bollocks.

 

[clapham_gull]

I'm clearly not local, but on a point of principle I'd never complain about houses being built especially as it seems next to existing houses.

We are also going to have to shift as a society regarding out right to a parking space and our expectancy of infrastructure etc.

Affordable roofs over heads are the priority.

However as I said above, ripping out failing retail (in cities) is definitely a way forward as long as it sits alongside retail.

I wouldn't apply that to villages though, it can turn them into ghost villages.

You need a mix.

 

[beorhthelm]

What is classed as 'affordable' housing?

there's probably a definition involving average earning and values, these days its come to mean housing that's subsidised 30-50% below market. which means in the south east even affordable is jolly expensive.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

What is classed as 'affordable' housing?
Accommodation provided by council or housing associations that people that work can afford and not take 80% of their wages to keep a roof over their heads, or cheap council or housing association housing.

Probably the later, the council have no money to invest in building new social housing.
As someone who works (subcontractor) for several major house builders, I am aware of several things currently happening within the industry and orders coming through.
1: New build private orders have nosed dived and they are slowing down builds.
2: They are turning some properties from private units and offering them to Housing Associations.
3: Investment groups are bulk buying units on sites at a cheaper price with all fixtures and fittings included (we are usually an extra) and letting them out until the value increases and then they will look to sell them.
one site i tendered for several years ago in Sussex had initially 35 HA units, it now has 81 units, usually those numbers are split roughly 50/50 shared ownership and rented.
The council can demand either a certain amount of HA units on a site plus services (in some cases, a school and health centre) or money which is supposed to go towards housing.

 

[BrightonCottager]

I don’t disagree with that. As often, the binary nature of debate spoils nuance.

The number of empty properties needs to be reduced in conjunction with a sensible entire infrastructure build in other places.

Lobbing up flat pack on green belt that will be bought for over market price by idiot DFLs helps no one except the developers.

There is no Green Belt in Brighton and Hove.
The Council already has powers to bring empty homes back into use (although I'm not sure they're used much).

According to this Census data there were 8650 vacant dwellings and 1120 second homes in the city on 2021 census night, an almost doubling since 2011 according to the Anus, getting its percentages and numbers mixed up.

The Council 's Housing Market Reports make for sobering reading about affordability.

 

[Weststander]

There is no Green Belt in Brighton and Hove.
The Council already has powers to bring empty homes back into use (although I'm not sure they're used much).

According to this Census data there were 8650 vacant dwellings and 1120 second homes in the city on 2021 census night, an almost doubling since 2011 according to the Anus, getting its percentages and numbers mixed up.

The Council 's Housing Market Reports make for sobering reading about affordability.

A wealth of interesting local data in there, thank you. Rents stand out as frighteningly high.

Ironically as many of us here are against building on greenfield, squeezed in by the sea and countryside, prices and rents will forever escalate away. This is an incredibly popular city to live in, each October thousands of new undergraduates from afar add to those who love it here.

The only completely unrealistic solution I can see would be for southern England land prices to halve over a sustained period. Due to sustained economic success and a lack of housing supply, this part of the world has joined much of Japan, Switzerland and major US cities as an astonishingly expensive place to live. Generations are now effectively slaves to huge mortgages of land.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

A wealth of interesting local data in there, thank you. Rents stand out as frighteningly high.

Ironically as many of us here are against building on greenfield, squeezed in by the sea and countryside, prices and rents will forever escalate away. This is an incredibly popular city to live in, each October thousands of new undergraduates from afar add to those who love it here.

The only completely unrealistic solution I can see would be for southern England land prices to halve over a sustained period. Due to sustained economic success and a lack of housing supply, this part of the world has joined much of Japan, Switzerland and major US cities as an astonishingly expensive place to live. Generations are now effectively slaves to huge mortgages of land.

True, remember though there are a large number of accommodation blocks with students in mind currently being built around the city, the council thinking on granting these new builds, I would think, was that a large number of town houses currently rented to students will become free for families. Who knows if they will, i do sympathise with those in rural beauty spots all over the country that are now inundated with second homes for the rich, so much so that local youth who want to live where they grew up have to move further afield, not sure what the answer is to be honest.

 

[Chicken Run]

A consultation has opened about building houses on Benfield Valley ( a green lung in the city ). This is despite Labour promising at the last local election that no building would take place if they came to power.

There are drop in consultations both this evening and tomorrow evening at Hangleton Manor. So I'd encourage any locals to pop in and register their disgust at the plans ( almost four times the amount of houses initially suggested in the local plan ). Grateful for any support ! @hart's shirt - FYI.

Let’s hope Grimshaw & Co are as passionate about protecting this space as Barnett was eh!

 

[Chicken Run]

True, remember though there are a large number of accommodation blocks with students in mind currently being built around the city, the council thinking on granting these new builds, I would think, was that a large number of town houses currently rented to students will become free for families. Who knows if they will, i do sympathise with those in rural beauty spots all over the country that are now inundated with second homes for the rich, so much so that local youth who want to live where they grew up have to move further afield, not sure what the answer is to be honest.

The very smart looking Student Accommodation developments you talk of are in main occupied by wealthy overseas students and are privately managed and very unaffordable compared to say 4 students renting an ex local authority house in Bevendean.

There is a substantial redevelopment of much of Sussex University Halls sites all owned by 3rd parties.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Let’s hope Grimshaw & Co are as passionate about protecting this space as Barnett was eh!

That was one of two regrets about the result of the last local election - losing Cllr Barnett.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

The very smart looking Student Accommodation developments you talk of are in main occupied by wealthy overseas students and are privately managed and very unaffordable compared to say 4 students renting an ex local authority house in Bevendean.

There is a substantial redevelopment of much of Sussex University Halls sites all owned by 3rd parties.

True, but it still impacts and eases the renting situation that you allude to about ex local authority properties. This is actually affecting lots of residential streets, like my own Hartington Road that had many houses that were let out to student's, quite a few have now been sold and turned back to private, which is a good thing, even if they are over priced.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

True, remember though there are a large number of accommodation blocks with students in mind currently being built around the city, the council thinking on granting these new builds, I would think, was that a large number of town houses currently rented to students will become free for families. Who knows if they will, i do sympathise with those in rural beauty spots all over the country that are now inundated with second homes for the rich, so much so that local youth who want to live where they grew up have to move further afield, not sure what the answer is to be honest.

While dedicated student accommodation helps to resolve part of the problem it doesn't resolve the challenge of how many graduates love it here so much they decide to stay after Uni.

 

[BrightonCottager]

@Weststander @Psychobilly freakout @Westdene Seagull & @Chicken Run all make very valid points about Housing in B&H and the wider South East. It is a lot more complicated than our national politicians make out - its not just a matter of building more homes as
1) housing is used as a form of investment, not 'just' providing a roof over a head,
2) there are no controls over foreigners buying UK property (a particular problem in London) which has a knock-on effect in the wider SE,
3) housebuilding firms (dominated by a few large companies) dripfeed new homes onto the market to keep prices high
4) public sector house building collapsed after Thatcher's acceleration of right to buy and ban on Councils to spend the proceeds.
5) the abandoning of regional planning in 2010 removed any larger than local process of where new housing and infrastructure should go
6) I have heard anecdotal evidence (thank you @Psychobilly freakout ) and from Hanover that studentification is in retreat. I'd love to see some data - & the Council's Housing Market Reports seem to have dried up since last year. As well as the new private builds, the Council now restricts new HMOs in certain areas (& will probably get the powers to do the same for short term holiday lets). Evidence from my visits to other University cities with my daughter seems to support @Chicken Run 's view that UK 2nd & 3rd years tend to move into house shares after the first year in halls. Some Universities own their own stock or have lists of approved landlords. In Sheffield, the City Council even inspects and approves shared student housing.

 

[Hamilton]

No. @Guinness Boy is right.

It isn't about 'infrastructure', the homeless are homeless because they don't have the money to pay for what is available, not because nothing is available, and that is a completely different issue to what to do with available housing and whether we need to build more (cheap) housing on former golf courses (etc).

This is the issue. Affordable housing is only affordable if you have something to afford in the first place. With rents skyrocket high, and empty housing, Houston, we have a problem.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

2) there are no controls over foreigners buying UK property (a particular problem in London) which has a knock-on effect in the wider SE,

I have noticed this a lot more this year, houses sold to either investment groups, who knows where they are based.
Also a lot of people buying homes from abroad and letting them out, only this week I have had issues with certain aspects of flooring going down in new builds and direction of the parquet etc makes no sense, I question the sales team and it seems I have to wait while they get in contact with the purchaser who lives in Hong Kong and India this week, and been told no rush they can't let it out until the new year.

3) housebuilding firms (dominated by a few large companies) drip feed new homes onto the market to keep prices high

This is very much true and something the government and local authorities should have more of a handle on when granting them permission to build.
I know sites are being moth balled until prices rise, construction has slowed right down, which for the south east is pretty worrying.

 

[Gwylan]

According to this Census data there were 8650 vacant dwellings and 1120 second homes in the city on 2021 census night, an almost doubling since 2011 according to the Anus, getting its percentages and numbers mixed up.

That's not quite accurate. The census will provide information on homes that were unoccupied on a single night, not vacant dwellings. People could be away on business, on holiday, in hospital, in hotels while having work done ... etc, etc. A vacant property is one defined as being empty for a year - and in 2022, there were 1579 empty properties in B&H.

But even that can be a misleading figure. I'm someone with an empty property. My mum died in May 2022 and her house is standing empty. However, we couldn't do anything about selling it until we achieved grant of probate (that's about eight months). We then had to sort out estate agents (and as it's 350 miles away, that wasn't a simple job) but it went onto to the market in April. We accepted an offer after a few weeks and that chugged along until a few weeks ago when they suddenly pulled out of the sale. So, we have an empty property that we're keen to get rid of but it's probably going to stand empty for close to two years - and that's down to bureaucracy, not the owner.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

That's not quite accurate. The census will provide information on homes that were unoccupied on a single night, not vacant dwellings. People could be away on business, on holiday, in hospital, in hotels while having work done ... etc, etc. A vacant property is one defined as being empty for a year - and in 2022, there were 1579 empty properties in B&H.

But even that can be a misleading figure. I'm someone with an empty property. My mum died in May 2022 and her house is standing empty. However, we couldn't do anything about selling it until we achieved grant of probate (that's about eight months). We then had to sort out estate agents (and as it's 350 miles away, that wasn't a simple job) but it went onto to the market in April. We accepted an offer after a few weeks and that chugged along until a few weeks ago when they suddenly pulled out of the sale. So, we have an empty property that we're keen to get rid of but it's probably going to stand empty for close to two years - and that's down to bureaucracy, not the owner.

Totally agree with this. There are numerous reasons why a property may be classed as empty.

 

[beorhthelm]

3) housebuilding firms (dominated by a few large companies) dripfeed new homes onto the market to keep prices high

any actual evidence for this? developments i'm familar with have been built and moved into within year or two of permission granted. i'm usually surprised just how quick they've built.

 

[BrightonCottager]

That's not quite accurate. The census will provide information on homes that were unoccupied on a single night, not vacant dwellings. People could be away on business, on holiday, in hospital, in hotels while having work done ... etc, etc. A vacant property is one defined as being empty for a year - and in 2022, there were 1579 empty properties in B&H.

But even that can be a misleading figure. I'm someone with an empty property. My mum died in May 2022 and her house is standing empty. However, we couldn't do anything about selling it until we achieved grant of probate (that's about eight months). We then had to sort out estate agents (and as it's 350 miles away, that wasn't a simple job) but it went onto to the market in April. We accepted an offer after a few weeks and that chugged along until a few weeks ago when they suddenly pulled out of the sale. So, we have an empty property that we're keen to get rid of but it's probably going to stand empty for close to two years - and that's down to bureaucracy, not the owner.

The ONS website refers to the data as 'The number of vacant dwellings and second homes with no usual residents in England and Wales.' Whether your mum's house would count is unclear as I don't know what 'usual' means. Your story is a salutory tale - one I'll have to deal with before too long, so it's good to be prepared. Thank you.