Lincoln residents in need of council housing are waiting months, and the delay is only likely to get longer, the city’s housing director has warned.
The new government has made tackling the housing crisis a key priority, but only a “fundamental shift” in the market will improve the situation.
There are 312 people in the most urgent category of the City of Lincoln Council’s housing register.
However, they face waits of at least six months for a one- or two-bedroom property, and more than a year for a larger one.
Darren Turner, Director of Housing and Investment, says more people are turning to council housing as they are priced out of the private market.
The council is having to investigate innovative options like pre-constructed “pods” or turning commercial buildings into housing in order to keep up.
Darren said: “It’s a supply and demand issue,”
“Private rent has gone up exceptionally in the last few years, and more people are seeing the council as their only option. Even working families who receive housing benefits can’t keep up.
“But we have to keep replacing homes we lose through the Right to Buy scheme – about 50 a year – and it’s very hard to keep pace.
“The length of wait on the housing register isn’t likely to get better any time soon.
“There needs to be a fundamental shift in the market and the amount of homes available, which isn’t a quick job.
“Councils like us are going to have to find other solutions and be inventive, or stem demand in the first place.”
The local authority is also seeing a rise in people with more complex needs requiring social housing.
Councillor Donald Nannestad (Lab), the portfolio holder for housing, said: “The years of cuts and austerity add up. We want to be a good landlord, but we’re not social workers, police, or mental health workers.”
The Labour government is hoping to build 1.5 million new homes over this Parliament, putting councils under pressure to approve development.
The housing director says Lincoln council’s mandatory target is “fairly difficult” given the tight borders around the city and the lack of available land.
He adds developers have little incentive to flood the market with affordable housing, preferring a “choke and release” model which keeps prices high.
“The 1.5m target is going to need significant intervention from the government to accelerate housebuilding. In the post-war period, the council built huge amounts of social housing – such as the Ermine and Moorland estates – but that’s unlikely to happen today.”
The hundreds of promised homes from Lincoln’s Western Growth Corridor – at least 20 per cent of them affordable – won’t start to appear until at least 2026.
The council is taking a fresh look at land it owns between Queen Elizabeth Road and the A46 bypass, where permission to build 340 homes has now lapsed.
Empty shops like the former Debenhams in St Mark’s shopping centre have also been identified as areas of interest, although there’s no guarantee of plans coming forward.
Pressure on the housing waiting list is unlikely to ease until either the council is able to significantly increase its stock or people return to the private housing market.
Cllr Nannestad said that in terms of the city’s housebuilding: “We’ve done all the easy bits – now it’s getting more complicated.”
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