At CPRE Sussex we support the provision of genuinely affordable housing for those who need it most. However, solving the housing crisis isn’t just about building more homes. And building unaffordable executive homes on greenfield sites, rather than housing which meets a genuine local need, is the worst possible option for Sussex.
As I discussed last month, developers and politicians claim protections for the countryside are hampering development. But these claims do not hold up to scrutiny.
Instead, we need to explore and overcome the real causes of the housing crisis.
Too often we see the housing crisis wrongly defined as being about housing availability, when it is fundamentally about affordability. The cripplingly high cost of buying or renting a home in Sussex is not simply the result of a shortage of homes.
Figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) last year revealed Hastings is the only “affordable” area for private rent in Sussex.
Research by the national CPRE charity revealed social housing waiting lists grew in five Sussex districts classed as largely, mainly or significantly rural from 2018/19 to 2022/23.
New data from the ONS highlights the difference between median average house prices and median average earnings for full-time employees. Chichester was the least affordable area in Sussex with average house prices 12.82 times the annual average full-time salary.
Of course, there is the old argument that increasing housing supply brings down prices.
But this logic does not work if demand stays high, particularly if it is fuelled by low interest rates, foreign or domestic investment and public subsidies like the Help to Buy scheme. Plus, new homes are only a very small part of the market – and it is not in the interests of developers to build and sell them at a faster rate that would push down prices.
Housing markets are also more complex than this argument suggests. Supply does not tackle tenure or distribution issues.
Put simply, the “just build more homes” approach has failed. Relying on private housebuilding to deliver a proportion of so-called “affordable” homes is not working. And when it's built on greenfield land or in precious green gaps it is hopeless. By the time money is spent on new infrastructure there is nothing left for affordable housing.
So, if just building more homes will not solve the housing crisis what will?
We can start with acknowledging the real causes – selling off and failing to replace social housing, fuelling house price rises, too little support for people wishing to downsize and failing to regulate the private rented sector.
Find out more about how you can help CPRE Sussex fight for sustainable, affordable housing at https://www.cpresussex.org.uk/get-involved/.
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