Headlines
- The average house price in the North East is the lowest of all the English regions.
- The region has a higher proportion of social rented dwellings than the national average.
The Government has several aims in terms of housing in England which set the scene for regional policy to be put in place. The main aims of Government housing policy are that everyone should have the opportunity to rent or buy a decent home at a price they can afford, in a place where they want to live and work.
More homes are needed to meet the rising demands of a population that is both increasing and ageing; further analysis on the North East’s population is provided in the population chapter. The Government has set a target to provide three million more homes in England by 2020 which will include more affordable homes to rent or buy.
Most people would like to own their home and there are a range of low cost home ownership schemes available for people who cannot afford to buy a property outright.
The North East Housing Strategy is based on four long term strategic objectives, which are to:
- Rejuvenate the housing stock, including the provision of high quality housing for rent, for sale and for shared ownership to meet 21st century demands. To replace market failure with high quality housing in the right locations to help create successful, cohesive sustainable communities;
- Ensure the supply, type and mix of new housing for rent and for sale meets social and economic needs, provides choice and supports growth. This will reflect the diversity of urban and rural communities and the needs for affordable, family and executive housing;
- Secure the improvement and maintenance of existing housing so that it meets required standards, and invest in sustainable neighbourhoods; and
- Promote good management and targeted housing investment to address specific community and social needs, including an ageing population and the needs of minority communities. This will be aligned with the supporting people programme and will promote greater community involvement.
Whilst all the key objectives in the RSS are interlinked, the three main ones in relation to housing are as follows:
- focus housing development on previously developed land and buildings in sustainable locations within the conurbations and main settlements, housing market restructuring areas, towns in regeneration areas, and rural service centres;
- provide a more appropriate mix of type, size, tenure and affordability of decent, high quality homes by housing market restructuring and through additions to the region's housing stock;
- reduce the amount of vacant housing in the region to 3 per cent by 2011;
Delivering sustainable communities is a key aim in the RSS and is fundamentally linked to the four objectives of the North East of England's Housing Strategy.
This chapter looks at some of the key indicators in relation to housing and the priorities and objectives of regional housing strategy. The analysis will compare how the North East is performing against other regions in the UK as well as how things have changed in the North East over time.
As of quarter three 2009, median house prices in the North East remain the lowest in England and Wales at £122,000. The England & Wales median house price was £174,955 for the same quarter - £52,955 higher than the North East average figure. Whilst house prices are lower than elsewhere in the country, the median is only £10,000 lower than the other two northern regions of Yorkshire and Humberside and the North West – compared to a difference of £60-90k between the region and the South West and South East. Unsurprisingly house prices in London are much more inflated than the rest of the country – with median house prices reaching £270,000. The chart shows fairly stark contrast in house prices between the northern and southern regions of England and Wales. It is important to note that house prices not only differ between regions but also within regions and across different types of housing.
House prices are comparatively low in the North East – however across all the regions house prices are currently lower than they have been in recent years. The following chart shows house prices in the North East and in the UK indexed against house price value in 2002. The trend shows that between 2002 and 2005 house prices in the North East rose more sharply than in the rest of the UK. The rate of growth slowed between 2005 and 2007 before peaking in 2008. In the North East house prices have decreased since early 2008 and have continued to decline up to May 2009. However the period since then shows some volatility in house prices both at regional and national level, with periods of house price increases followed by falls. this pattern appears more pronounced within the North east than at National level.
The North East has 1,144,000 dwellings (2007 data) which accounts for approximately 5% of all English dwelling stock. The North East has the smallest number of dwellings – which is unsurprising as the region also has the lowest population of all the English regions. The South East has the highest number of dwellings (3,571,000) which accounts for approximately 16% of all English dwelling stock. The numbers of different types of housing differ from region to region in England: the following figures relate to March 2007. In the North East 34% of dwelling stock is made up of terraced housing. This is the largest proportion of terraced housing of all the English regions. 38% of the North East dwelling stock is made up of semi-detached houses – which is a broadly similar proportion to that of several other regions (North West, Yorkshire & Humber, East Midlands and West Midlands). 11% of the region’s housing stock is made up of flats, which is again similar to the North West, Yorkshire & Humberside and West Midlands. Detached houses account for 14% of the North East dwelling stock – which is the same as in the North West but substantially lower than the other English regions except London.
Generally speaking the North East has a similar make up of dwelling stock to the North West – but differs from the other regions. London stands out from all the other regions with a large proportion of flats (43%) and a relatively low proportion of detached houses (5%).
Over the past four years the proportions of detached houses and flats have remained fairly stable in the North East. However the proportion of semi-detached houses has reduced by 5 percentage points and in turn the proportion of dwelling stock made up of terraced houses has increased by about the same amount.
The North East has the lowest proportion of pre-1851 dwellings of all English regions. It also has the smallest dwelling stock; therefore this represents a very small number comparatively. It has a similar proportion of 1851 to 1918 housing compared with the English average and when adding the two together the North East has the third lowest proportion of pre-1919 dwellings (16% of its stock). This period coincides with the industrialisation of the economy and a major increase in population. As with other regions, the three periods between 1919 and 1984 represent the largest proportions of the North East dwelling stock; in particular 51% (27% and 24% respectively) is from the 1945-64 and 1965-84 periods. The two most recent periods 1985-1994 and post 1995 each represent the smallest proportions of the North East dwelling stock with the exception of pre-1851. As a consequence the majority of the North East dwelling stock is between 90 and 20 years old and coincided with major council house building and rebuilding of war-damaged Britain. Similarly the post 1986 periods coincide with the end of council house building.
Just over 66% of North East dwellings were owner occupied as of March 2007. This compares to 70% for England and, outside of London, is the lowest of all the English regions. In contrast, at 24% the proportion of dwellings owned by local authorities and registered social landlords (LA/RSL) is higher than elsewhere; the English average is 17%. The balance of tenure (‘other’) is accounted for by private renting and accommodation associated with a job or a business and amounted to 9% regionally and 12% nationally in 2007.
Trends show steady increases, both regionally and nationally, in owner occupation and steady decreases in social housing (LA/RSL). Although social housing has decreased, the dwellings owned by registered social landlords have, in fact, more than doubled so these changes very largely reflect stock transfers from local authorities. Proportionately, all these changes have been similar to the North East over the last 10 years to the national level. Although small, the ‘other’ sector has seen a sharp change regionally in the past few years. In 2002 this accounted for about 18,000 dwellings in the North East and has increased by a quarter to around 106,000 in 2007.
More recently the rise in owner occupation has slowed and there has been a rise in private renting. The recent ‘housing boom’ may have contributed to this as more people find themselves needing to rent. Consequently the rental market has changed with reductions in local authority renting and increases in RSL renting within an overall shrinking sector.
The charts below show the rate of homeless households accepted as priority need per 1,000 housholds. This measure of homelessness is defined by CLG as 'households found to be eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and falling within a priority need group, and consequently owed a main homelessness duty by a local housing authority'.
In 2008/09 the North East has a rate of 2.8 per 1,000 households accepted as priority need which is a slightly higher rate than the English average of 2.5. The trend chart shows that in both the North East and England rates peaked in 2003/04 but have since fallen steadily.