Barrow Housing Aspirations 2008

Barrow Borough CouncilBarrow Housing Aspirations 2008September 2008Prepared by Tony PearceCN Research The White House Dalston Road Carlisle CA2 5UATel: 01228 612335 Fax: 01228 612601 Email: [email protected] Housing Aspirations 2008 CONTENTSINTRODUCTION Page 2METHODOLOGY Page 3SUMMARY Page 4FINDINGSInitial concerns Page 5 Choice Page 5 Need Page 7 Staying in current home Page 7 Choice criteria Page 8 Design and architectural issues Page 8 Paying for environmental standards Page 9 Affordability Page 10 Homes for young people Page 11 Shared ownership schemes Page 12 Future housing in Barrow Page 13 - 15APPENDIX 1: The Question Frame Page 162Housing Aspirations 2008 INTRODUCTIONBarrow-in-Furness Borough Council commissioned CN Research to conduct a focus group with members of the Citizens Panel to explore and investigate perceptions of housing in Barrow. The purpose of this consultation was to obtain the views and perceptions of a cross-section of residents of the Borough on housing issues, particularly in relation to the housing market, so that these perceptions can be compared to those obtained through a similar event in 2006. The focus group investigated perceptions of the state of the housing market in Barrow and the quality and choice of housing available. Participants were also asked if they believe there were sufficient suitable homes for young families, older people and those with special needs. The focus group also looked at the perceptions of the opportunities for young people to buy a first home and also participants’ attitudes towards plans for proposed housing developments in key regeneration areas.The question frame can be seen in Appendix 1 (Page 16). 3Housing Aspirations 2008 METHODOLOGYThe purpose of this consultation was to obtain the views and perceptions of a cross-section of residents of the Borough on housing issues, particularly in relation to the housing market,One focus group including 10 participants was conducted on 28 August 2008. Participants were aged between 24 and 45 and included 4 males and 6 females. All participants lived within the Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council District. Participants were recruited from the Community Voice Citizens Panel.Participants were encouraged to be open and relaxed during the discussions. No attempt was made to discourage participants from giving personal views, indeed the value of focus groups is that they get beneath the superficial responses often given to written questionnaires and shed light on the feelings, priorities and attitudes of the participants. In keeping with the promise given to participants, the report avoids making references which could lead to the identification of individual participants. This includes the use of the grammatically questionable pronoun ‘they’ to hide an individual respondent’s gender.Throughout the report direct quotes from participants appear in blue italics.4Housing Aspirations 2008 SUMMARYParticipants’ initial comments were generally focused on the affordability of housing in the Borough, particularly for first time buyers. (Page 5)The general consensus of the group was that Barrow had a good variety of housing, but a few participants said that these were not always affordable. A number of participants in the group felt that there were not enough flats or apartments to buy in the Borough, particularly for first time buyers and/or young people. Participants felt that flats and apartments would attract young professionals and provide affordable first time homes to let people ‘get a foot on the property ladder’. A few of the participants felt there should be more ‘eco friendly’ or ‘green’ homes. (Pages 5 & 6)The general consensus of the group was that there was enough housing in the Borough, and the type of housing that was needed in Barrow was affordable housing, including housing with joint ownership schemes. (Page 7)Participants listed the most important considerations when making house choices as: gardens, off road parking, number of rooms and room size, location in terms of schools and facilities, how safe it is for your kids to be in that area, and affordability. The majority of the group felt that architectural issues were important to them. (Page 8)The majority of the group said they would be prepared to pay ‘a little more’ for buildings to meet high environments standards, particularly if the initial outlay or costs were returned in savings within a relatively short time period. (Page 9)The general view of participants was that first time buyers on the minimum wage would find it very difficult to get on the property ladder in Barrow. However, a few of the participants felt it was still possible if people worked and saved hard. Some participants felt that the housing costs would drive people away from Barrow while others pointed out that the housing situation for first time buyers was a national problem. (Page 10)A number of participants said they felt that there should be more flats and apartments made available for young people. (Page 11)The group, in general, felt shared ownership and/or shared equity schemes were a good idea. A few of the participants said they were unsure about how these schemes actually worked but in principle they should be able to help first time buyers. (Page 12)The group were generally supportive of the plans for the Neighbourhood Renewal Area and optimistic about the Waterside Development. (Page 13 - 15)5Housing Aspirations 2008 FINDINGSInitial concernsParticipants were initially asked what they felt about housing in Barrow. The aim was to understand peoples’ immediate perceptions without any prompting. Participants’ initial comments were generally focused on the affordability of housing in the Borough, particularly for first time buyers. Comments included:You always see things in the Evening Mail about building new affordable housing, but I think they are really expensive. These new houses are sometimes over £200,000 which is fine if you have the money but this is a working class town and a lot of people are on low incomes and a lot of people don’t have the money. My parents have just bought a new house and sold one in Windsor Street. And they are with Northern Rock so they have a huge mortgage and because of what is happening they can’t go anywhere. Northern Rock have said they don’t want their mortgage but it would cost them an absolute fortune to move. There is a good variety of houses in Barrow including terraced, detached, semi- detached - but not a lot for the new buyer. The houses people might buy first are like those on Marsh Street and if they are knocking them down, where are they going to go?Affordable housing is the big issue. For those people starting out who don’t have a lot of money coming in, how do they get on the property ladder? If you are paying £450 a month on rent you then can’t save up to get a deposit for a house – it’s like a vicious circle. ChoiceThe general consensus of the group was that Barrow had a good variety of types of housing, but a few participants said that these were not always affordable. A few participants said they were looking to extend their current home rather than looking to buy new houses. Comments included:6Housing Aspirations 2008 There is a good variety but not necessarily affordable. There is a good range with semi detached and detached, with gardens, without gardens.You have got to extend rather than buy right now with the credit crunch. We are extending now. Because of the nature of houses in Barrow, they are all terrace, it’s difficult to extend your property. On the outskirts of Barrow it might be easier but for inside Barrow it’s quite difficult. If your family gets bigger then you have to move. A number of participants in the group felt that there were not enough flats or apartments to buy in the Borough, particularly for first time buyers and/or young people. Participants felt that flats and apartments would attract young professionals and provide affordable first time homes to let people ‘get a foot on the property ladder’. Comments included:Owning a flat would be a good way to start out. There are actually very few flats in Barrow. Here, peoples’ first home is often a terraced house where in other places it is probably a flat. There seems to be flats everywhere except Barrow. But it’s probably Barrow mentality to start off with a terrace house. Flats are great if you are on your own or just a young couple. Once you have children you need more room. I think they are looking at doing more apartments and flats.A few of the participants felt there should be more ‘eco friendly’ or ‘green’ homes. Comments included:I think we should have more eco friendly houses with solar panels and windmills. 7Housing Aspirations 2008 I think eventually we will all have no choice and have to become eco friendly and green. A few participants said they felt that the government should provide more grants to develop ‘eco friendly’ homes. One participant said:This is a national issue and the Government should be providing grants for this.However a few participants felt that the initial outlay to develop an eco friendly home would be too much. Another participant doubted whether Barrow had the capacity for eco friendly homes. Comments included:Green housing comes at a price and I am unsure if I would want to lay out that extra money. Has Barrow got the capacity to do this in Barrow? You see those houses that are eco friendly and they usually take up a lot of land. I think it is about adapting what we have already got rather than replacing. NeedThe general consensus of the group was that there was enough housing in the Borough and the type of housing that was needed in Barrow was affordable housing, including housing with joint ownership schemes. Comments included:I think there is enough housing in the Borough. You see houses that have been on the market for ages so nobody is coming in to buy the. The housing market has slowed, there’s no demand. I think we need more joint ownership schemes where you buy half of it and rent the other half off the Council. They should build new houses for this as the upkeep on the old Victorian houses would be too much. Staying in current homeMany of the participants said they were happy to stay in their current home. Comments included:8Housing Aspirations 2008 I don’t really want to move, I’ve got everything on my doorstep. The only thing that would make me move is a garden. The only thing is that I have a four bedroom house that is a medium size, so I’m generally happy were I am. We have extended and will probably extend further rather than move. It’s a nice area and good for the children. I’m very happy were I am. I am very happy were I am but would probably eventually want a garden. I would like to move, but not until the kids are older. Choice criteriaParticipants were asked what the most important things were for them when making housing choices. Participants listed: gardens, off road parking, number of rooms and room size, location in terms of schools and facilities, how safe it is for your kids to be in that area, affordability.Design and architectural issuesParticipants were asked how important design and architectural issues and local character were in making housing choices. The majority of the group felt that architectural issues were important to them. Comments included:Yes it is important – if you look at the new and older Victorian Housing you can see the older houses have much more character. The houses here have lots of character – streets like Windsor street have grand houses and it looks so pretty. 9Housing Aspirations 2008 You can see the history of the Town in the buildings – where it’s come from. I think that’s what I love about Barrow – you can see where people have come from. The group went on to discuss there preference for older houses rather than new builds. Comments included:Even if you have more maintenance with an older house I’d still prefer them. The new houses feel like boxes – they all look the same. You get that MFI feeling about them. The room sizes are much smaller – there’s no comparison. You seem to get a lot more for your money when you buy an older property. When you get away from Barrow you see new builds in different designs, whereas here they are all the same. Paying for environmental standardsParticipants were asked whether they would be prepared to pay more for housing constructed to high environmental standards. The majority of the group said they would be prepared to pay ‘a little more’ for buildings to meet high environments standards, particularly if the initial outlay or costs were returned in savings within a relatively short time period. But one participant said:I wouldn’t be prepared to put my hand in my pocket. If the Government wants us to go green they should be prepared to pay for it – it shouldn’t be a tax burden on us. Other participants said:I think it would pay for itself in the long run. Houses are here for longer than a lifetime so we should be responsible and think further ahead. 10Housing Aspirations 2008 How much we would be willing to pay depends on how much we would save in the long run. I was going to get a windmill but it was going to take 35 years to get back my initial outlay – so I didn’t go for it. One person said they could not get cavity wall filling because their home was to old. She said:I couldn’t get cavity wall filling because they said my house was too old. So where do I go from here?AffordabilityParticipants were asked whether local people could afford to get into the housing market in Barrow and whether there was enough affordable housing in the Borough. The general view of participants was that first time buyers on the average wage would find it very difficult to get on the property ladder in Barrow. However, a few of the participants felt it was still possible if people worked and saved hard. Some participants felt that the housing costs would drive people away from Barrow while others pointed out that the housing situation for first time buyers was a national problem. Comments included:First time buyers have just been pushed out of the market, there’s nothing for them. We have to look at housing for the future – my kids are eight and nine and if they can’t find a house they will move to a different town – I would like to keep my family close. We are priced out of the market everywhere – and Barrow is probably one of the cheapest places for houses. People have got to accept that they have got to move today – there are other things outside of Barrow. House prices are a national problem. I moved to Barrow because my house was worth quite a bit which meant that I could buy a decent house in Barrow – better than the house before. 11Housing Aspirations 2008 I’d hate to be a first time buyer now. If I hadn’t bought a house when I did I would never have been able to afford one. I have just sold my House for £100,000 and I had first time buyers fighting over it - you just wonder how on earth they will be able to afford a mortgage. You need shared ownership schemes, particularly for first time buyers, just to keep people in the town. The salaries here won’t support a big mortgage. Housing is a national problem and there’s nothing the Council can do about it. You are in between the devil and the deep blue sea. If you want to commute to Kendal, what you spend on petrol is defeating the object. If you have two people on 30 grand a year then it is possible for first time buyers, they just have to make sacrifices. They only have to live at home and save for an extra 12 months to get a decent deposit. Our parents had to make bigger sacrifices than most of us to buy a house. There are not many people on £30,000 in Barrow, the average wage is only around £18,000. What about single people who want to get on the property ladder. People on £18,000 a year just can’t get a mortgage, prices are just getting further and further out of reach. You only have to see the amount of young couples in Tescos with trolleys full of shopping and getting out into brand new cars – sometime £20,000 worth of car. I think if you are prepared to knuckle down and work hard it is affordable. The money’s clearly there. Homes for young peopleA number of participants said they felt that there should be more flats and apartments made available for young people. One participant said:Flats for young professionals would be a good way to bring people into Barrow – they would also be good for young people starting out. 12Housing Aspirations 2008 Another participant was concerned about the shortage of housing for troubled teenagers. They said:Where are the homes for troubled teenagers who have to leave home? There are no flats or places for them in Barrow – it is a big issue. A number of participants felt that the priority should be to improve existing houses rather than building new houses. We should be looking at improving existing housing rather than pulling things down. Parade Street looks brilliant, why can’t they do more of this? Shared ownership schemesThe group, in general, felt shared ownership and/or shared equity schemes were a good idea. A few of the participants said they were unsure about how these schemes actually worked but in principle they should be able to help first time buyers. Comments included:I think that if you are struggling they are a good idea. I’m all for it – it’s a great idea. If you can’t get on the property ladder because your wages aren’t inline with house prices it is a way of getting a foot on the ladder. As some of your rent will be going towards the purchase of your property then at least it is not dead money. I don’t really understand how it works, but if it helps get first time buyers on the property ladder then why not. I remember there was something about this in the news when it first came out, but you don’t really hear about it now. It sounds like a good idea but I’m not actually sure how it works. 13Housing Aspirations 2008 Future housing in BarrowParticipants were given the information on the Neighbourhood Renewal Area and several minutes to view Waterside Development display boards. Participants were then asked what they felt about these plans. The group were generally supportive of the plans, with a number of participants voicing their support. However, there were a few concerns. Comments included:If it is someone like Bradford and Northern who is going to build and rent out for £85 per week for a two bedroom small house, you might as well push yourself a little bit further to buy a terrace house. You would probably find it would be unmarried mothers living down there with their drug dealer boyfriend. When I lived in another town they redeveloped the houses and split everyone up and moved the people who were problems all over. As far as I know this worked. Integration is fine but would you like to be integrated into some places, or problem people integrated next to you – I wouldn’t. I might sound snobby but I agree with you. It would be sad to see these places re-developed only to see people who have lived there for years suddenly integrated with unmarried mothers and problem boyfriends. Will the people who they put in there respect the place?No of course they wont! Rawlinson Street is just a nightmare to drive down – there is so many dodgy people on that street and people feeding from the streets around there. The nice thing about it is that they are going to make it look more green. I mean there are a lot of kids in that area. You see these kids down there, unsupervised, often just in their underwear - running across the road.14Housing Aspirations 2008 It’s stereotyping but it is almost like a career for some people. I’ve overheard girls saying that they have to go and get pregnant now because the state will keep me. You have to feel a bit sorry for the people who live there and who are going to get turned out. There is a very strong sense of community in that area, they do all know each other. It’s a bit sad that this might be lost. In Sub Area D says that owners will have the opportunity to apply for a grant. I hope that this applies to all and people are not penalised for being in employment while others who are not get it for free. It’s got to be fair for everyone. There is a massive need for housing for disabled people in the area. There is nothing for people with big disabilities like downs syndrome, people with autism – where do they live? If disabled people want to leave home, they should have the option of living independently but there is nowhere. We need to integrate disabled people into the community. I’d also like to see housing for troubled teenagers. I know one girl who has lost both parents and is living with friends and family but there is a time when she will want her independence. There are many people from good families who through circumstances need somewhere to go – we are not talking about druggies or chavs. Where is she going to go? Arthur Street? We wouldn’t want her to go there. Participants were also asked what they thought about the Waterfront development. The group was generally optimistic about the development. Comments included:I would like to live there but it will be probably out of my price range.I think it’s a great idea. Why would you be against it? It’s good for the area. I wouldn’t like to live where there aren’t permanent residents. You are not going to get a sense of community are you?15Housing Aspirations 2008 Barrow has never had anything like this before. It’s an unknown. They have regenerated Whitehaven and that worked. It’s improving the area you live in. 16Housing Aspirations 2008 APPENDIX 1: The Discussion Guide Barrow Borough Council (Housing Aspirations) Focus Group Green Room, Forum 28, 28 August 2008 (5.30pm – 6.45pm)Focus Group to be comprised of a cross-section of Barrow Borough residents recruited from the Community Voice panel. [Facilitator to introduce self and purpose/agenda of the focus group; and reassure participants of confidentiality. Facilitator to explain that the purpose of this consultation is to obtain the views and perceptions of a cross-section of residents of the Borough on housing issues, particularly in relation to the housing market, so that these perceptions can be compared to those obtained through a similar event in 2006.] Question FrameThe Housing Market and Housing Choice [We are interested in perceptions of the state of the housing market in Barrow and the quality and choice of housing available. We would like to know if people believe there are sufficient suitable homes for young families, older people and those with special needs.]  Do you think that there is enough choice of different types of housing in the Borough?  Do we have enough of the kind of homes people want to live in?  Do you think that there is a need for new housing? If so, what type?  What are your thoughts on staying in your current home and what would make you want to move home?  What are the most important are things you (would) consider when making housing choices?  How important are design and architectural issues and local character in making housing choices?  Would you be prepared to pay more for housing constructed to high environmental standards?Affordability [We are interested in perceptions of the opportunities for young people to buy a first home.]  Can local people afford to get into the housing market in Barrow? Is there enough affordable housing in the Borough?  If not, what are the problems and where is more affordable housing required?  Are there enough of the kind of homes that young people want in suitable areas?  What are your views on schemes such as shared ownership and shared equity?17Housing Aspirations 2008 Future Housing in Barrow Facilitator to hand out information on Neighbourhood Renewal Area and give participants a chance to view Waterside Development display boards. [We are interested in attitudes towards plans for proposed housing developments in key regeneration areas.]  The regeneration programme in Barrow aims to provide new housing and a better living environment in the Town Centre and in the new Waterside development. What do you think of these plans?  What would you think about living in the Town Centre of on the Waterside development?  Who do you think would want to live in those areas?18

Barrow Housing Aspirations 2008

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