Middle Quinton Eco-town – the facts

Middle QuintonEco-town – the facts

Middle Quinton Eco-town – the facts 3

Middle Quinton

SummaryMiddle Quinton is one of the proposed new eco-towns. The eco-towns debate has generated plenty of media interest, and Shelter has written a series of leaflets to help clarify the facts. This leaflet sets out the particular housing issues for Stratford-on-Avon and Wychavon and the impact on housing a new eco-town in Middle Quinton could have locally.

There are 8,000 households on council housing waiting lists in Wychavon and Stratford, the two districts adjacent to Middle Quinton, yet the number of affordable homes being rented out each year is nowhere near adequate to meet local need.

House prices are rising far more quickly than average earnings in Wychavon, from 5 times the average earnings for an average-priced house in the late 1990s to more than 10 times the average earnings in 2007. The picture is almost as bad in Stratford.

In the West Midlands, 177,000 households are constantly struggling to pay, or falling behind with, their mortgage or rent payments. People struggling with high housing costs tell Shelter that these costs cause them depression and anxiety, forcing them to sell possessions and reduce spending on clothing for their children.

Due to high levels of need, two recent assessments indicate that at least one-third of all new homes in the area should be affordable. This will require a step change in the building of affordable housing; so far, at the peak of construction in 2005/06, only 18 per cent of all new homes built were affordable.

The proposed new town in Middle Quinton would provide at least 6,000 new homes, of which one-third (approximately 2,000) homes would be affordable, including for social rent and low-cost home ownership.

We hope you’ll use the information in this booklet to decide whether the Middle Quinton eco-town proposal meets local needs.

Make your voice count – take part in the consultation processes and make sure your views are heard about whether the eco-town should go ahead and, if so, what it should look like.

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Middle Quinton Eco-town, Stratford-on-Avon

Middle Quinton Eco-town – the facts � Middle Quinton Eco-town – the facts �

IntroductionIn July 2007, Gordon Brown made an historic commitment to tackle Britain’s housing crisis by delivering three million additional homes by 2020. The proposal to build a series of eco-towns is part of the government’s strategy to achieve this housing commitment. Eco-towns offer the potential to develop sustainable homes within mixed communities that respond to the challenges of climate change and high utility bills. In order for these towns to achieve their potential, and avoid the many mistakes made in the past, it is essential that lessons are learned and that serious social and environmental concerns are addressed.

Eco-town consultations are now underway and it is vital that local people take the opportunity to contribute with their views and opinions, to ensure that a wide range of perspectives are considered. Very often, members of local communities know far better than the developers what new housing developments need to include. These views need to be heard.

What is an eco-town?When the Government set out proposals for eco-towns, it drew attention to how these new towns should be different from previous developments.

Significant requirements are that the eco-town should:

have a zero carbon impact as a whole

contain employment opportunities and a full range of amenities, such as schools, health clinics and public transport, to ensure that it is as self-contained as practicable

achieve high standards of architecture and urban design

empower the new community, for example, through ownership of community assets and active involvement in the life of the town

contain a full range of housing by size, tenure and type, so that residents can continue to live affordably in the town throughout their life-cycle, helping to maintain a sustainable community.

You may have heard arguments against the eco-town being proposed for Middle Quinton. Concerns expressed have covered increased traffic, greater pressure on public services, increased risk of flooding, and downward pressure on local house prices. Many of these issues will need to be addressed if the eco-town is to meet the requirements laid out by the Government.

Most people accept that there is a need for more affordable housing. Below, we look at the proposal for Middle Quinton, how many market and affordable homes are needed in the area surrounding this site, and what is currently being done to provide these homes.

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Middle Quinton Eco-town – the facts � Middle Quinton Eco-town – the facts �

Middle Quinton: the proposalThe proposed eco-town of Middle Quinton is in the district of Stratford-on-Avon, between Long Marston and Lower Quinton. St Modwen and the Bird Group have proposed to build the eco-town very close to the district boundary with both Cotswold and Wychavon. It is a brownfield site of 240 hectares which was formerly used as a Ministry of Defence engineers depot. There is a rail connection to the main Worcester-Oxford-London line, although this is presently only used for freight. The proposal map suggests that there would be a passenger rail connection to Stratford to help ensure sustainable travel – see Figure 1, below.

Figure 1: Map of proposed Middle Quinton eco-town site

Source: www.middlequintonecotown.co.uk/movement.htm

The proposal is for Middle Quinton to provide at least 6,000 new homes, making it roughly twice the size of Pershore. One-third of these homes (approximately 2,000) would be affordable, for example, social rented homes (what we used to call council housing) or properties available under low-cost home ownership schemes. The location of the proposed Middle Quinton eco-town suggests that it could be well placed to meet housing need in Stratford and Wychavon. The site is also very close to Cotswold District, in the South West, and a small number of people from the north of Cotswold might be interested in affordable homes at Middle Quinton.

Figure 2: General area where Middle Quinton would be located

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Do we really need more homes in Stratford and Wychavon?The number of households in Stratford and Wychavon keeps growing, mainly due to an increase in life expectancy, people choosing to live alone and smaller family sizes. But not enough homes are being planned to meet this growth. House prices have spiralled, rents have risen, and an increasing number of people cannot afford to pay market prices, but there are not enough subsidised, affordable homes being built as an alternative. As a result, council housing waiting lists have been getting longer, with 8,000 households on the waiting lists for affordable housing in Stratford and Wychavon, the two districts adjacent to Middle Quinton.

But aren’t there enough homes already planned for Stratford and Wychavon?Over the period 2001/02 and 2006/07, an average of 950 new homes were supplied each year in Stratford and Wychavon. The West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy (a 20-year plan for housing and other developments, decided in consultation with people across the region) is currently being revised and the most recent proposals are for the number of new homes per year to fall to an average of 735 homes for the period 2006–2026.

Between 2011–2016, when it is expected that homes would start to become available in Middle Quinton, household projections estimate that 6,000 new households will be formed in Stratford and Wychavon. Ongoing research, commissioned by the Government Office for the West Midlands, suggests that the current number of homes planned for these two counties fails to meet the demand indicated by this household growth. In Stratford and Wychavon, the number of new homes planned for 2006–2026 will fail to meet household growth by a shortfall of 8,300 homes, or over 400 homes a year. These figures suggest that more new homes need to be provided in Worcestershire and Warwickshire than are currently allocated in local or regional plans.

While the proposed eco-town at Middle Quinton is not the only housing option, and it will be important both to explore other options and to ensure continued provision of affordable housing in villages to meet local need, there is clear evidence of a need to provide additional housing which will have to be addressed.

How many more affordable homes are needed?Significant numbers of affordable homes are needed in Stratford and Wychavon because house prices have increased steeply over recent years, and the stock of affordable homes has failed to keep pace with need. While it is now more expensive to obtain your home on the open market, the lack of supply of affordable homes means it is also harder to get subsidised housing if you need it.

In the late 1990s, you needed a mortgage of 5 times the average earnings to buy an average-priced house in Wychavon. By 2007, prices had risen so steeply that you needed a mortgage more than 10 times the average earnings to buy an average-priced house. The picture is almost as bad in Stratford. The current market slow down has had very little impact on this picture so far.

Middle Quinton Eco-town – the facts � Middle Quinton Eco-town – the facts �

Figure 3: Average* earnings compared with average house prices.

This is a snapshot of April 1 of each year. *The average median is the mid-point of the earnings distribution. Source: CLG Live Table 577

As home ownership has become less affordable, the need for affordable housing has increased, yet there have not been enough affordable homes built to meet this need. The size of local council housing waiting lists gives some insight into the level of current need for affordable housing. Taking Stratford and Wychavon districts together, there are 8,000 households on the waiting lists for affordable housing, compared to 4,200 in 1997 – see Figure 4, below.

Figure 4: Households on council housing waiting lists in Stratford and Wychavon

This is a snapshot of March 31 of each year. Source: CLG Live Table 600

Not everyone on these waiting lists represents a need for additional housing. For example, some will be looking to move from one rented property into a larger one. Nonetheless, where people are living in unsuitable properties, or are forced to share with other households, these are real needs that can only be addressed through additional affordable homes being made available.

At the most severe end of the spectrum, are those who are actually homeless. Between 2002/03 and 2007/08, an average of 260 households per year were accepted as homeless by Stratford and Wychavon councils.

Every day, Shelter sees first hand the impact that living with this situation has on people’s lives. A recent study by Shelter found that in the West Midlands there are over 177,000 households struggling to pay, or falling behind with, their mortgage or rent payments. People struggling with high housing costs tell us that these costs cause them depression and anxiety, forcing them to sell possessions and reduce spending on clothing for their children. Living in temporary accommodation can also be very unsettling, particularly for children, as it can create health problems, affect schoolwork, and sometimes lead to family breakdown.

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Local councils and housing associations have been working to house people in need by managing more effectively the stock of social rented homes available. However, despite growing numbers of households on the waiting list, the number of homes being rented out, on average 1,100 per year over the last five years, is nowhere near adequate to meet local need. Additional social rented homes are needed each year to lift people out of homelessness and temporary accommodation, and take others off council housing waiting lists and away from overcrowded housing.

Figure 5: Lettings of social rented housing in Stratford and Wychavon

Source: CLG Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix 2006/07, Table D9, and CORE data.

There have been a number of assessments of just how much additional affordable housing is needed in Stratford and Wychavon. The two most recent reports (for the West Midlands Regional Assembly and the South Housing Market Partnership) both suggest that more than one-third of all new housing provision should be affordable, and that there is a need for both social rented homes and intermediate housing. The average number of new affordable homes completed over the past eight years was 91 homes per year, and at its peak the proportion of affordable homes completed, as a part of total provision, was only 18 per cent.

Intermediate housingFor those who cannot afford to buy their own home, or who face a long wait for a social rented home, or are concerned about the security and cost of renting in the private sented sector, intermediate housing, including low-cost home ownership, may be a solution. However, as Figure 6, overleaf, shows, although supply in Stratford and Wychavon has risen in recent years it is still very low, averaging 80 homes a year in the last three years. A further increase in the supply of intermediate homes would help meet local housing need, and provide more choice for people who cannot afford to buy, notably key workers and first-time buyers. Therefore, more intermediate housing should be a key element of affordable housing provision in Middle Quinton.

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Figure 6: Supply of intermediate affordable homes in Stratford and Wychavon

Source: CLG Live Table 1002

How can we be sure that affordable housing will be provided?The current proposal for Middle Quinton is for 2,000 affordable homes to be built, including, in particular, social rented and shared ownership homes. Councils and housing associations would have responsibility for managing the use of these homes to ensure that they are focused on meeting local needs.

Currently, around 1,100 social rented homes are available for people to move into in Stratford and Wychavon each year, including, on average, 140 social rented homes added to stock annually – far below what is required to meet need and reduce waiting lists. If Middle Quinton is built over ten years, it would provide at least an additional 200 affordable homes, on average, each year. This would substantially increase the current rate of additional affordable homes provided in the two districts, although total provision would still be lower than needed.

If planning permission was granted for the development of Middle Quinton, it would be subject to a lengthy list of conditions, including an agreement by the developer to fulfil formal obligations relating to the provision of facilities, infrastructure and affordable housing, often including contributions to costs.

You can help ensure this happens by getting involved in the consultation processes.

Surely the new development doesn’t have to be here? Why not somewhere more suitable?Currently, the West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy focuses on housing development in major urban areas and ‘settlements of strategic development’. In the south of the region, sites earmarked for development are Warwick, Leamington, Worcester and Droitwich. However, concentrating new homes in these places will not help meet housing need in the south of Warwickshire and in rural Worcestershire, including Wychavon. While the proposed eco-town of Middle Quinton is not the only housing option, there is clear evidence that more homes will be needed in this general area to reduce the need for young people to move out of the area to find housing and to ease problems of affordability.

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Middle Quinton Eco-town – the facts 1� Middle Quinton Eco-town – the facts 1�

Why are homes unaffordable?The rate of housebuilding has not kept pace with rapidly increasing demand, and, in conjunction with easy-access mortgages, has led to steep house price rises.

The amount of affordable housing, such as local authority and housing association homes, has been gradually reduced by the sell-off of council housing under the Right to Buy scheme, and by successive governments’ failure to replace these homes.

House prices are now falling, but the underlying issues have not changed. There are still too few homes being built.

The impact of the affordability crisis The lack of affordable homes in Britain has hit millions of people hard. People are struggling to meet housing costs and, in some cases, are at severe risk of homelessness as a result. Many more are trapped in damp, dilapidated, overcrowded or temporary housing, unable to afford to rent or buy a secure comfortable home. The consequences of this situation can be devastating, with children living in bad housing almost twice as likely as other children to suffer from poor health, nearly twice as likely to not to get any GCSEs as other children, and more likely to be bullied and excluded from school. Parents fear that things will be much harder for their children.

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What will make Middle Quinton an eco-town?This will mainly be determined in the detailed stages of future planning. Nonetheless, it is possible to make some observations now on any future housing in Middle Quinton.

Efforts will need to be made to ensure that the significantly higher standards of design and materials to meet eco-standards do not result in housing in the town costing significantly more than existing homes in the area.

The design of residential areas and their residents’ access to adequate infrastructure, employment and amenities in the town must receive as much attention as the eco-friendly status of their individual homes. Residents need to be able to look upon the town itself as their ‘home’ too, with all the sense of place and belonging that goes with this.

The proposed share of affordable housing in Middle Quinton is at the bottom end of the 30–50 per cent range indicated by the Government. Given the level of need the area would benefit from a larger proportion of affordable homes. It will also be important to ensure that the low-cost home ownership schemes are affordable to people on lower incomes.

Does the rest of the country have these housing problems?

Home ownership out of reach for manyOver the last ten years, the cost of the average home in England has tripled, to more than £200,000. This has left most first-time buyers priced out of the market. Although house prices are now falling, the credit crunch means that home ownership remains out of reach for many, largely because it is getting harder to secure mortgages. In addition, mortgage repossessions are expected to rise – more than 45,000 homeowners could lose their homes in 2008.

Cost of renting homes too highThe lack of affordable housing hasn’t just been felt by aspiring homeowners. People living in the private rented sector are more likely to struggle to pay for housing costs than those with a mortgage. In turn, the lack of affordable homes on the market has put mounting pressure on the social sector. Nearly 1.7 million households in England are currently on housing waiting lists (an increase of almost two-thirds in the past ten years). Unfortunately, those lucky enough to have a social rented home are more likely to be overcrowded, because there are not enough family-sized homes.

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What happens now?There is general acknowledgment that the UK has consistently failed to build enough homes for a number of years. The situation is in decline, as housebuilders are limiting production with the fall in house prices, and empty homes will not be sufficient to satisfy housing need.

In April 2008, 15 of the proposed eco-towns were selected for detailed consideration. Only when all aspects of each town have been carefully scrutinised will any decision be taken to go ahead with the development, and even then the proposals will be fully vetted through the local planning process.

It is vital that local people take the opportunity to have their say and actively participate in the consultation process.

In June, local events and exhibitions were held by St Modwen and the Bird Group in Stratford, Long Marston, Evesham and Chipping Campden to enable interested members of the public to discuss the proposal and feed in their views.

A national government consultation on the general principles of eco-towns and initial reactions to the 15 suggested locations closed on June 30.

There are plans for a series of consultation events to be held by the Government in the region of each potential eco-town location – including Middle Quinton – to take place in September and October.

There will also be the opportunity to provide feedback on the Middle Quinton proposals online.

If the plans for Middle Quinton move forward and enter the local planning system there will be additional meetings and further online opportunities for local people to express their views.

How can I get involved?Attend a local consultation event and make your views known.

Discuss this information with your family, friends, neighbours and colleagues at work.

Contact Shelter to find out more about our work in this area and other ways to help.

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Middle Quinton Eco-town – the facts 1�

Everyone should have a home

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Cover Image by Corbis Photos by Nick David, Sophie Lasslett, Andrea Testoni, Amy Wallace Getty Images and Dreamstime. Printed on 100% recycled paper, made in a totally chlorine-free process.

This leaflet has been produced with the support of the Department for Communities and Local Government as part of a programme to ensure that people potentially affected by eco-towns have information about housing need in their area and how to take part in the consultation.

Further informationDevelopers’ site: www.middlequintonecotown.co.uk

Stratford-on-Avon District Council: www.stratford.gov.uk

Warwickshire County Council: www.warwickshire.gov.uk

Communities and Local Government: www.communities.gov.uk/ecotowns

GlossaryAffordable housing This includes social rented housing and intermediate housing.

Brownfield Previously developed land, includes anything from old factory sites to suburban gardens.

Greenfield Undeveloped land, either currently used for agriculture or left fallow.

Household projections The household projections are an indication of the likely increase in households given the continuation of recent demographic trends. Note: sub-regional household projections are not as robust as regional projections.

Housing shortfall This indicates too few homes being built, and is the difference between the number of homes built and the number of homes needed or planned.

Intermediate housing Homes offered for shared ownership, shared equity, purchased at a discount, or available at a below-market rent.

Low-cost home ownership This includes homes for shared ownership and shared equity. Shared ownership homes are offered to people who cannot afford to buy their own home, individuals purchase a portion of their home and pay rent on the rest. Under shared equity schemes, people are offered a mortgage loan for the majority of the property, with a low-cost equity loan from a mortgage lender or the Government covering the remainder.

Social rented housing Formerly called council housing, these homes are provided to people in housing need by councils and housing associations at affordable rents.

West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy A 20-year plan for housing and other developments, decided in consultation with local people.

Middle Quinton Eco-town – the facts