Conclusion
National policies and legislation provide a changing and sometimes challenging environment for delivering housing service and producing a housing strategy.
These changes and challenges can produce new duties and new workstreams. Equally as important as understanding national policy and legislation is the understanding of local socio-economic factors and demographics that are impacting on housing or could have an impact on housing in the future.
Cherwell is a place of relative affluence, economic activity and productivity and low unemployment. Despite this, there are some pockets of significant deprivation and challenge that are reflective in national deprivation figures and are even more pronounced when compared to the surrounding County.
Despite the area being economically active and affluent, there are increasing pressure on housing services and the housing market. Cherwell has relatively high homelessness and rough sleeping figures. The affordability of housing, both rental and sale, are challenging. There is also quite a unique rental market in Cherwell with the split in LHA rates and the differences and acuteness of market pressures within the Cherwell area.
A summary of the national and local contextual factors that have informed the three priority areas within the Housing Strategy are outlined below.
- House price increases and the rental market are making housing increasingly unaffordable within Cherwell
- There is a widening gap between property prices and earnings
- Affordability challenges are likely to have a knock-on effect in the future on those in lower income jobs due to the lack of affordable housing and the wider affordability of housing
- Rising homelessness, rough sleeping and temporary accommodation usage means that there are more households in Cherwell living in poor housing conditions and seeking permanent and suitable housing. Further demonstrating affordability and supply pressures.
- The housing register is growing, showing there is greater demand for social and affordable housing in Cherwell. The largest group of people applying to the register state that they are living in overcrowded conditions. This could be due both to natural growth and children being at home for longer due to the accessibility of the market. The supply of larger properties is an issue, meaning longer waits.
- The growing profile of issues relating to housing standards in the rental sector and proposed legislative changes will put pressure on housing services within the Council
- The growing need to achieve net zero and achieve better environmental outcomes from the built environment will become increasingly important priorities over the lifetime of this strategy.