Greg Stone

Greg's speech to March 2007 city council meeting: Regeneration and Affordable Housing

NB Due to the late hour when this item of the agenda was reached, it was agreed to proceed to a vote without debate, and the motion was duly agreed by council.

Lord Mayor, I propose this motion for 3 reasons:

First, To commend the work being brought forward by YHN and NCC with its partners to deliver improvement to the city's social housing and to deliver new housing, market renewal, and sustainable communities

Second, To recognise the shortage of housing in the city and underline the council's commitment to delivering new housing that is both affordable and sustainable,

And finally, to invite the Government to acknowledge, that continued financial support and a joined-up approach is needed to ensure that regeneration is successfully carried forward.

I should like to start by praising YHN which is delivering an excellent housing service and making strong progress in delivering the Decent Homes Programme. In some areas there have been difficulties with contractors and consequent disruption for tenants, but the overall picture is very positive.

The policy of the LibDem group at the time of YHN's establishment was that the tenants should decide by a ballot, as happened elsewhere. That did not happen, but once the decision had been taken by Labour, the Lib Dems have been fully supportive of the development of the ALMO.

However, despite the improvements, and the agreement to deliver, by a Lib Dem administration, the first new council owned properties in the city for many years, there is still an acute shortage of social housing, and an ever increasing waiting list.

Over the last 20 years or so, the number of council-owned properties has dropped by over one-third, from about 48,000 to 32,000. Many of those properties involved right-to-buy, but I think it should be pointed out that we might not have such a shortage of three and four bed council homes if several thousand had not been demolished by the previous administration.

Under the previous administration, there was little or nothing done to bring forward new build completions in regeneration areas, and precious little new affordable housing. The new schemes that were agreed by the previous administration, such as the apartments on the Quayside and city centre, and the Great North Park development, have done little in these respects.

Labour leaflets attack us on the issue of "luxury housing" for non-existent schemes that exist in their own imaginations, yet their own record was one of massive demolition of family council houses, no new affordable housing, and the building of thousands of executive type homes on the Green Belt north of the A1.

Access to affordable housing to rent or to buy is a serious issue for many people in this city and it is one that both sides acknowledge. This situation is not unique to Newcastle. Virtually every council in the country faces the same problem. Prescott's fabled £60,000 house is now being sold for £189,000 in Milton Keynes.

Development economics, land values, new build allocation quotas, and the challenge of combining affordability with sustainability all contribute to the challenges to be overcome.

Lord Mayor, this administration is bringing forward through its Regeneration Strategy and Housing Strategy plans for 15000 new units of housing over the next 14 years, a third of them affordable, focusing on Walker Riverside and Benwell / Scotswood, but also encompassing new regeneration schemes in Byker and Ouseburn, in Newbiggin Hall, in Elswick and the Discovery Quarter.

Like other authorities we face challenges connected with RSS housing quotas, and also in terms of developing the skills and capacity required to administer this process within the council. Good work is being done via the Regeneration directorate and BNG but we need to quicken the pace of delivery. I urge the Executive to establish new ways of working to achieve this including the city centre development company but also potential joint ventures with YHN to make best use of the housing land we have in the city.

It is crucially important within this process that we bring forward not just new housing, but new neighbourhoods and new communities, all designed to high standards of urbanism and sustainability. If we are to achieve lasting regeneration, we must deliver mixed-tenure housing and mixed communities as advocated by the Hills report. That means not just new housing in the Pathfinder area, but also the provision of more social housing in predominantly owner occupier areas like Gosforth. The divide between owner-occupier areas and social rented areas must be broken down.

Lord Mayor, I believe the plans being delivered through the Regeneration Strategy offer a significant chance of succeeding where past regeneration has failed, but we all accept that the new housing it will bring cannot be delivered quickly enough.

I should like to conclude by calling on the Government to recognise the good work that is being done by the council, YHN, and its partners, and to back it up with resources as well as words.

YHN will not be able to deliver the Decent Homes Programme on time if the Government goes ahead with plans to delay the last tranche of funding.

We will not be able to deliver our regeneration aspirations if Comprehensive Spending Review seeks to curtail Pathfinder funding instead of delivering through to 2016, Equally, controversial changes to the SHIP programme may affect provision of new social housing schemes

And finally Lord Mayor, we need central Government to deliver joined up government, instead of the ludicrous situation where the unelected Highways Agency is poised to block or delay crucial regeneration in the West End and East End.

It is time that the Highways Agency support Newcastle's regeneration instead of holding us back.