Cramlington ripe for hundreds of new urgently needed new Council Homes :
With Labour ready to urgently turn back time to develop new Council homes the public, including the 4000 families County-wide who want to move into social housing within the County they grew up in want to know if Northumberland has its plans ready for the UK call up in February 2026.
Northumberland’s public knows that the Mayor for the North-east, Kim McGuinness whose offices the funding will flow through, is ready to ensure the North-east begins to reap the benefits of the biggest opportunity to house those in greatest need Britain has seen since the late 1940’s and early 50’s. But the general public with family or relatives in need living in the second largest population area in the North-east, Northumberland are really concerned that Northumberland’s Unitary all purpose County Council isn’t up to the job, as they are stuck fast to a policy of AFFORDABLE HOMES only and the Conservatives in charge at County Hall have stuck like superglue to that policy since May 2017.
Our group research across the North-east reveals that the average cost for an affordable home currently sits at £215,000 even if prospective buyers are able to raise the deposit, payments on a twenty five year mortgage would currently exceed £1,100 roughly the cost of renting a three bedroom home in the private sector yet without the aid of housing benefits to help those in need; proving Council Housing is really where the investment should be made.
If pressure from Government is brought to Northumberland’s doorstep to bring forward their plans to utilise this cash bonus correctly will they agree to ditch some of their outdated ideas to ensure that Homes for Northumberland means what it say's on the tin?
Were extremely doubtful that the rigid Tory spines at County Hall will bend at all even though without those homes many of which should be sited in Cramlington the Tories may be stripped of their iron grip on the Town.
The Mayor for the North-east Kim McGuinness is attempting to encourage members of the combined authority under her care to be ready to submit their plans for growth and has gone public to ensure this essential mater receives the most open public debate.
The Government have lined up a spectacular offer for Councils as follows:
Government Approach to Social Housing Growth
The government, under the Labour administration since July 2024, has committed to the "biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation". Key aspects of their strategy for growth includes:
Long-term Investment Programme: A landmark £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) 2026-2036 aims to deliver around 300,000 new social and affordable homes over the next decade. At least 60% of these will be for social rent. The government is opening for bids for the program in February 2026.
National Housing Bank and Funding: The government is making £2.5 billion of low-interest loans available to support new building, alongside the establishment of a new National Housing Bank as a public financial institution to provide long-term finance.
Right to Buy Reforms: Reforms to the Right to Buy scheme are intended to protect existing social housing stock by reducing discounts and ensuring targets are met for replacement homes, thereby safeguarding the long-term future of social housing.
Planning and New Towns: The Housing Minister oversees a new Towns Unit in a delivery partnership with Homes England to spearhead discussions on building new communities and accelerating development through pro-growth planning changes.
Regulatory Reform: The government is focused on improving the quality and safety of existing social housing, including modernising the Decent Homes Standard and introducing Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards. New competence and conduct standards for housing professionals are also being implemented.
Minister Pennycook has stated that these reforms and investment plans place social housing "at the centre of solving the housing crisis" and provide the sector with "clarity and certainty that will be the foundation for the next decade of delivery"
Lets hope the need to engage in this initiative gets debated in pubs and clubs across the County of Northumberland and pressure can be brought to bear over the next four months on the secret cabinet and its leader ASAP.
NOTES:
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/labour-social-housing-north-east-32827106
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj3z24k05djo
