Gateshead Council has a bizarre idea of affordable housing. The average wage in Tyneside is approximately £17,500 so, assuming a 100% mortgage, affordable housing is about £54,000 if you use the normal three and half times wages formula.
Swedish company BoKlok produces "flat pack" wooden homes that the locals now call the "Ikea houses". These were the new experimental eco homes that would revolutionise housing starting at just £99,000 for a flat.
The offer to those on average wages on Tyneside is that you can buy these properties on a 50% ownership basis.
Now that the banks are cutting down on risky morgages and won't even lend to themselves most of those on low wages have to cough-up 30% deposits to get a mortgage.
Not surprisingly only 12 out of 36 houses have been sold. Meanwhile Saltwell and Bensham, always a popular area for first time buyers, faces the continuing threat of demolition to properties that cost between £60,000 to £80,000. These will be replaced by new houses costing between £170,000 and £200,000 - more than 10 times average salaries.
If you wanted a policy that guaranteed long term renting for the working poor then Gateshead Council have that policy. What it doesn't do is build communities or fullfil the aspirations of hard working Tyneside families who find housing is unaffordable - even flat pack housing.
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