Headlines
- Volume of property sales fell sharply into the beginning of 2009, both regionally and nationally. But have since started to increase
- In the North East, the proportion of Homeless households in priority need has fallen substantially over the past 6 years
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.
This chapter looks at some of the key indicators in relation to housing, in particular those issues around housing stock and demand. 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. For more information around market prices and affordability please refer to the Housing: House Prices and Affordability chapter.
The North East has 1,156,000 dwellings (2009 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 (3,639,000) 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, which is the most recently published data from DCLG. 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, along with London, 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 under 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.
In the second quarter of 2010 there were 6,236 property sales in the North East of England. The volume of property sales is lower than in every other region in England and Wales – this is a reflection of the region’s smaller population and relatively fewer numbers of properties.
The line chart showing the property sales trend in the North East shows that sales are usually fewer during the winter months of quarter 4 and quarter 1 and that sales grew during the post 2002 housing boom but have fallen substantially throughout 2008 and 2009. By spring 2008 the ‘credit crunch’ was well and truly underway and banks were withdrawing mortgage products and being extremely cautious in lending. There was also considerable uncertainty over prices which led to some houses not selling as quickly and some owners choosing not to sell. Whilst the impact of the recession on property sales in the North East is evident the decline in property sales is not exclusive to the region as a similar pattern can be seen in all the regions in England and Wales.
Net additions measure the absolute increase in stock between one year and the next, including other losses and gains (such as conversions and demolitions). In the period 2008-2009 there were an additional 4,310 dwellings in the North East compared to the previous 12 months. Since 2000 there have been 43,890 additional dwellings to North East housing stock, the latest twelve month period saw the fewest number of additional dwellings since 2003-2004.
Vacant Dwellings
There were 2,500 local authority vacant dwellings in the North East in 2009 - which equated to 1.9% of all local authority dwellings in the region. This vacancy rate was equal to the national average figure but lower than the other northern regions, both the North West and Yorkshire and Humber recorded 2.4% of local authority dwellings as vacant. The North East had the highest rate of RSL vacant dwellings in 2009 with 2.8% (3,339) compared to a national average 1.9%.
The trend for both RSL and Local Authority vacant dwellings has generally been downward in recent years, but the Local Authority vacany rate has dropped more sharply and now equals the national rate. The RSL vacant dwelling rate still maintains a disparity between the North East and the rest of England.
Waiting Lists
The number of households on local authority housing waiting lists in 2009 was 82,524 (7.4%). This is below average for England as a whole, with 8.2% of all households on local authority waiting lists. The average English figure is inflated due to the relatively high figure in Yorkshire and Humberside (13.3%).
Homelessness
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 2009/10 the North East has a rate of 1.8 per 1,000 households accepted as priority need which is the same as the English average. The trend chart shows that in both the North East and England rates peaked in 2003/04 but have since fallen steadily.