Homes boost as waiting lists rise

OLDHAM will lead a fresh drive to build more desperately-needed affordable homes under a £1.8 billion Government investment.

First Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO), which has taken over the running of Oldham Council’s housing stock, will deliver a share of 9,311 homes pledged for the North-West.

The exact number of properties planned for Oldham will not be known until next year, when contracts are agreed and signed with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).

Across the country, 80,000 homes are promised by 2015 from the £1.8 billion cash injection.

However, Oldham West and Royton MP Michael Meacher, said: “Any extra housing is always welcome as there is such a great need in Oldham with more than 8,000 households on the waiting list, so we would need the majority of the North-West allocation but I fear we will have less than 500.

“I do not want to look a gift horse in the mouths but what pains me is the Government is constantly talking about the need for growth. More house building would restart the economy and produce growth and deal with the biggest problem in our society of the lack of housing.

“We must also question, at a time when everything is being cut, where is the money coming from?”

Housing Minister Grant Shapps said the announcement showed the construction industry delivering a “ringing endorsement” to his housing programme, adding: “This has confounded the critics.”

The programme allows housing associations to charge a rent of up to 80 per cent of the local market level and use the extra income to build more homes.

Sceptics have warned that deep cuts to housing benefit will make social landlords and private developers reluctant to build, fearing many homes will be unaffordable for families.

Meanwhile, waiting lists for housing have rocketed. There are only 20,711 social housing properties across Oldham, down from 28,349 back in 1981 and 24,606 in 1997.

Across the North-West, a total of 8,320 homes are planned for rent and 991 for home owners — 11.6 per cent of the overall number across England.