Bracknell Forest Council's latest housing strategy for 2009-2014

11.22.16am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 18th Jun 2009

The aim and overiding priority of Bracknell Forest Council's latest housing strategy for 2009-2014 is to provide for the right homes, in the right place, at the right quality - whatever that means!

It certainly does not mean providing for the right number of homes at the right time. Although the Council has made much of its plans to utilise the funds it receives from the transfer of its housing stock to Bracknell Forest Homes, these hardly begin to deal with the problems created by the growing housing crisis within the Borough.

The feeble schemes introduced by the Council to encourage tenants to buy a new home and allow others to purchase shared ownership homes will benefit only a few. Since 1998 house prices have more than doubled within Bracknell Forest and first time buyers now need a household income of £38,000 a year just to buy a flat or maisonette.

The number of households on the Council's housing register has also more than doubled in the past five years and there are now nearly 5000 households seeking to move or gain access to social housing. Analysis of the housing register shows that these households will have to wait on average between 4-5 years before they are likely to be offered an affordable home; some may not be re-housed at all.

Demand is outstripping supply and the Council has admitted, in real terms, that it is only able to assist one household in every ten households who are registered for affordable rented homes.

The position is unlikely to improve in the future. The number of new affordable homes to be funded by the transfer of the housing stock has already been reduced from 250 to 166 over the next five years and the totally inadequate number of 325 to be built by 2014-15 looks increasingly unrealistic

Ray Earwicker

Lib Dem P{rospective Parliamentaty Candidate for Bracknell