YP Comment: Renting our way to poverty

This stark reality is hammered home in a shocking new report by the housing and homelessness charity Shelter, which reveals that someone paying rent for an average two bedroom home in Yorkshire would have forked out £29,808 to their landlord over the last five years – nearly £1,500 more than the amount needed for a 20 per cent deposit on the average first time buyer’s home in the region.

In Yorkshire we are seeing a growing gulf, with someone renting a two-bed home in York paying more than £40,000 over the past five years, compared with £24,000 in Barnsley.

Millions of people across the country are caught in a “rent trap”, paying sky high housing costs and at the same time unable to get on the property ladder. For this so-called “generation rent” the long-cherished dream of buying their own home, like their parents and grandparents before them, is fast disappearing.

Unable to afford homes of their own, tenants are being hit by rising rents as landlords take advantage of the acute shortage of housing.

The number of households in private rented accommodation is now similar to that seen in the 1960s, when England’s housing crisis triggered an outcry that led to Shelter’s creation.

In December, George Osborne unveiled a package of measures aimed at boosting housebuilding and turning “generation rent” into “generation buy”. The Chancellor’s measures promised to be the biggest affordable housebuilding programme since the 1970s, with more than 400,000 new homes set to be built across England.

But this alone is not going to solve the country’s housing crisis. With wages continuing to stagnate we are in danger of leaving future generations not only unable to buy their own homes, but without anywhere affordable to rent either.

Where is urgency?

Potential five-year wait for flood defences

THEY say the wheels of justice turn slowly – but it’s nothing compared to the tortuous pace of progress in terms of providing adequate flood defences for parts of Yorkshire.

In Leeds a scaled-down scheme is under way which will offer a safety net for the city centre but leaves areas that bore the brunt of the Boxing Day floods woefully exposed. Environment Secretary Liz Truss initially said there was no chance of an upgrade before 2022, only for the Government to thankfully see sense.

Yet although the Environment Agency has been tasked with carrying out a feasibility study, Miss Truss now says that this could take up to two years to complete.

Taking into account the timescales involved in terms of producing detailed designs for the measures, acquiring the necessary planning permissions and the procurement process, this could mean residents and businesses remain at risk of flooding for up to five years. That is simply not acceptable. Some firms have already gone to the wall due to the effects of Storm Eva and companies will be reluctant to invest in the city if they fear a repeat.

Nor is it fair that entire communities have the threat of being flooded out of their homes having over their heads for half a decade.

A sizeable amount of work was carried out for the all-encompassing flood defence plan put together in 2011, which the Government refused to fund.

This should now be drawn upon to speed up the process to protect the homes and businesses that were left out in the cold. It would be helpful too if the Government in general – and the Environment Secretary in particular – were able to grasp the urgency of the situation.

Horsing around

Pony Club gets a makeover

FOUNDED almost a century ago to encourage children to take part in equestrian sports, The Pony Club has seen its membership steadily fall in recent years.

The answer, it hopes, is a rebrand that brings the organisation into the 21st century and rids it of its image as being the preserve of wealthy types clad from top to toe in tweed.

Reining in such stereotypes is long overdue. Not only does The Pony Club encourage young people to ride and enjoy all kinds of sport connected with horses and riding, it also educates members to take proper care of animals, promotes sportsmanship and builds strength of character. In short, it helps to keep equestrianism alive and kicking.

Many Olympians have The Pony Club to thank for introducing them to their sport and it is high time that it was made more accessible to youngsters of all backgrounds, ensuring the organisation and its work stays with us for a long time to come.