Pathfinders To Refurbish Rather Than Demolish Due To Cutbacks

The continuing downward spiral of pathfinder ambition continues. Around £29 million will be available for BridgingNewcastleGateshead in the coming year with much of it being spent in Newcastle.

Reporting the slow decline in pathfinder Building magazine says that pathfinders may have to stop their chaotic demolition program and return to refurbishing homes. A policy advocated by besieged communities across the north. Pathfinder as a strategy has never made much sense except to millionaire developers and the private sector bankers loaning them the money.

According to Inside Housing (link below) the cosy relationship between overpaid bankers, millionaire developers, and their friends in northern councils is now breaking down. The bankers want to keep the public money they have been given to provide "liquidity" and are not lending to anyone - including developers. Developers are stuck because their plan to create inner city brownfield sites by using public money from gullible politicians has been slowed by giving most of the available public finance to bankrupt bankers. Not so much as a gravy train but a gravy merry-go-round for private developers, private sector bankers and cash from the public purse.

To address this situation BridgingNewcastleGateshead is quoted as "developing affordable housing solutions, investing in refurbishment and liaising with developers and lenders". In other words there is little private sector development so the rationale of pathfinder to allow developers to make huge profits out of building homes for investment now means pathfinders have to retreat to their core pubic funding and actually refurbish hard working families' homes.

Of course the statement begs the question in an area like Tyneside, with average salaries around £19,000, why wasn't pathfinder developing affordable solutions long before now. The answer is simple - their brief was to privatise housing in favour of the richer members of the middle class and drive average families into "poorer" more affordable areas.

Hazel Blears, who failed to pay capital gains tax on her second home until "reminded" by the Daily Telegraph, is a good choice for Communities Secretary. Who else could be less embarrassed about demolishing people's first home while "flipping" her own homes to avoid tax.

Links
Building
Inside Housing