Forum Topic

New Homes

It is great news that Ealing has been awarded money to build some new homes. I hope the planners also think about the other services need for these extra people. Ealing is very short of school places and it is very difficult to get registered at a doctors.So, are these homes going to be built on existing sites, improve what we have or just crowd more people into an already very crowded borough?

Marie Holmes ● 5637d7 Comments

Marie,There are 326 other local authorities that have been awarded a bonus for building new homes. That is every single local authority in the country! Ealing has done nothing different to earn it. Be aware that the bonus is gained from not only building new homes, but also for bringing empty properties back into use. There are a huge number of empty homes in the borough.The bonus will match the council tax generated from these homes for six years and a bigger bonus is given on every new home that becomes an 'affordable home'. The Government became alarmed because key workers - such as teachers, nurses, fire fighters, and police officers and their families - were being forced out of London due to the high cost of housing. So let them get a pat on the back for that! But what is so unfair is that affluent councils such as Ealing are likely to receive up to 20 times more dosh in new home bonuses than councils in the north.  The new homes bonus is calculated using a national average of the council tax band of the home that is being built. So, because property prices are much higher down here than say somewhere like Burnley, Ealing will propser and Burnley will face greater deprivation. It is inevitable that more greenfield land is going to have to be released in Ealing, if we are ever going to make housing in the borough affordable. I can't see any other way for Ealing to match housing to population growth than to start carving up its green spaces.One soft way, I believe, to make housing more affordable in Ealing is for the council to stop giving council tax discounts to those who own second homes within the borough, but instead to charge them double the tax that they would pay if it was their main home. That extra dosh collected could go towards building new homes too, and at the same time let someone occup a second home as their main home.

Ben Owen ● 5637d

"There are a huge number of empty homes in the borough".Please provide source.

George Knox ● 5637d

3,145 empty homes in Ealing in 2009.www.emptyhomes.com

Eric Alan Leach ● 5637d

Eric thank you.Only some of the London Councils are listed on the Empty homes list and the number put in context is not really any more "huge" then Ben would have us believe.But as Cllr P Taylor is fond of saying Ben makes a fair point. Under PT's watch he will no doubt have noted that the number also increased although of course it was not his department. It should be noted that these are private homes. Is there any way of discovering how many Social housing homes are also vacant, and for how long? And if they have been vacant for a long time, then a penalty I think should be paid and added to a Ward budget. Something for C Costello to chew on perhaps?Interesting that this council is still awarding the discount. I think a discount is fair after a death and that the executors should be given plenty of time to sell a property. But otherwise perhaps there should be a review but not a doubling of tax until a fair time has passed.I see that from those Councillors who are prepared to comply fully with the law and tell us about all their interests, that some have second homes. Are any of those possibly vacant?

George Knox ● 5636d

Are you saying, George, 3,145 (thanks Eric for providing that source) empty homes is not a huge figure? What do you consider to be huge?George, if you accept that the average size of a household in the UK is between 3 and 4 people, and we use Eric's empty homes stats, then multiply 3,145 by a household of 3 and you arrive at 9,435 people. Multiply it by a household of 4 and that figure rises to a staggering 12,580 people. 12,580 who could be housed. That is not just huge - it is massive.There is simply no point comparing Ealing to other local authorities on this point. 3,145 empty homes is a huge figure regardless of how well / badly other local authorities do.

Ben Owen ● 5636d

Let's also throw in another figure:3,213 Affordable Homes Needed in Ealing Source:  http://localhousingwatch.org.uk

Eric Alan Leach ● 5636d

and let's throw this fact into the mix too:In Ealing, some families have been been stuck for the last 15 years in temporary accomodation because Ealing has never been able to find decent available accomodation to place them into. And yet there are 3,145 empty homes not paying any council tax? That is a scandal.

Ben Owen ● 5635d