Council plans housing company to tackle crisis
Isle of Wight Council is planning to spend nearly £2.5 million to start up a new council-owned housing company
It's part of a package totalling £29 million to help tackle the Island's housing crisis.
The plans form part of the Isle of Wight Council's draft 2022/23 budget.
Councillor Ian Stephens, deputy leader and Cabinet member for homelessness and housing need, said: "Having a place you can call home is a fundamental right which many Islanders are finding increasingly difficult to achieve.
"One of the perverse impacts of the dreadful pandemic we've all experienced has been the affect on the Island's housing market.
"House prices have increased dramatically and private sector rented accommodation has reduced by up to 80 per cent.
"Families, including those with working parents, are presenting to the council as homeless.
"In these crisis circumstances, it is the council working with partners that the community relies on to act, as was the case in the height of the pandemic.
"However, with no offer of significant help from government and few capital resources of our own we are prepared to look to borrow money on a business case by business case basis so that we can start to make something happen for Islanders."
The council is proposing to set aside £25 million of its borrowing capability over the next three years specifically for the purpose of increasing the supply of affordable housing.
Councillor Stephens said the idea was not to make profit from property development, but to meet the desperate housing needs of Islanders, prioritising brownfield sites within the council's control for new homes.
However, recognising that building takes time, he said the budget also made provision for high-quality relocatable housing that can be brought forward in the next few months.
In addition, a budget of £750,000 will be set aside for the compulsory purchase of properties that blight the Island and where landlords seem incapable or unwilling to work in the best interests of all.
The proposals come as figures show a fall of more than 17 per cent in properties empty for six months or more on the Island between August 2019 and January 2022 — in contrast to national figures which have risen every year for the last four years.
Council staff have been working with owners and landlords to bring their properties back into use, in a bid to increase the supply of quality affordable homes.
The authority has also recently invested in five units of supported accommodation for local people at risk of rough sleeping.
The budget will go before Full Council on Wednesday 23 February.