Building and refurbishing more good quality homes to rent and buy, at all price levels, has to be one of our top priorities. We need more homes in the Shepway area to meet local demand, and this pressure will only grow with so many people currently looking to move into the district. The high speed rail link to London and the regeneration of Folkestone is attracting home buyers from across the south east. Good PR in national media is also supporting this trend, with The Times newspaper famously ranking Folkestone the 5th 'coolest' place to live in the country. Local estate agents are reporting that half of the properties they are selling are to people moving into the area, using the money they have made already from selling their home to take advantage of our better value for money prices. This in many ways is a good thing, as it is bringing investment and will help to boost the spending on our high streets. However, we need to make sure we are also helping local first time buyers to get on to the housing ladder, and giving more and better options to people renting.
The Government’s ‘Help to Buy’ scheme has now been open for its first month and is already making a real difference. The scheme provides options to help people onto the housing ladder, including government backed mortgage guarantees, meaning you only have to provide an up front deposit of 5% of the value of the property. You can also look at shared ownership, where you pay between 25% and 75% of the value of the property, and then pay a subsidised rent for the part you don’t own. You can find out more about these schemes through our local information website www.helptobuy.net
So far, over 2,000 people have benefited in the first month of the scheme, and seen their applications approved. ‘Help to Buy’ is also; crucially encouraging house builders to start building again, now that they can see there are more buyers in the market. House building is now up by one third on last year’s levels, which is also good news for everyone who works in and supplies the construction industry.
Helping more people to own their own home frees up more properties for rent, but we also need to be building more of these too. East Kent Housing, which manages rental properties on behalf of the council, is investing in building new homes to rent, which is to be welcomed and I hope we see more of this too.
Last Sunday I joined the Mayor of Hythe, Cllr Alan Smith, for the town's Remembrance Day service. The bright dry weather was perfect for the occasion and it was good to see such a large turn out at the war memorial, and for the march past of servicemen and veterans along the High Street. I would like to thank everyone who has worked hard to support the British Legion’s Poppy Appeal and also the members of the Hythe Rotary club who helped marshal the temporary road closure on the A259 during the parade to and from the Town Hall.