Council vows to tackle demand for affordable housing

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council has set out its vision to increase the supply of high-quality, affordable housing for residents.

The plans will be heard at a meeting of the Council's Cabinet on Thursday, September 12.

Affordable housing includes homes for sale and rent for residents whose needs are not met by the private market.

And work to improve the affordable housing offer in the Borough is already underway, with the authority asking housing providers and developers to input their views and ideas for a market engagement exercise.

"This is a key piece of work because the cost of living crisis has led to a huge rise in demand for affordable housing for residents across the Borough," said the Council's Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Housing, Councillor Nigel Cooke.

He continued: "Our current providers do an excellent job and remain committed to building affordable homes in our Borough, but we've seen a 19 per cent increase in applications to the housing register in 2023/24. In fact, an average of 113 bids are placed on each property advertised and we recognise this isn't sustainable.

"So, we're looking at exploring a range of options to move forward and ensure we're in the best place to improve the housing offer for residents in suitable locations, whether this be through partners or direct delivery. This falls in to our 'Powering our Future' work across the organisation as more affordable housing can have a really positive impact across Council services, including support for vulnerable adults to live independently.

"The options being considered will also link in with the regeneration work going on across the Borough's town centres, as well as the very exciting Tees Valley Health and Care Innovation Zone.

"We want to make sure we move at pace and organisations involved in the development of affordable housing have until midday, September 24, to offer their views for our market engagement exercise."

A further report is set to be considered by the Council's Cabinet later this year, once the different options to increase affordable housing have been finalised.

For Council news direct to your inbox sign up to our My Council Newsletter.