Housing demand and Central Milton Keynes YMCA

‘For decades, there has been an insufficient supply of new housing’

Good quality affordable homes are a basic requirement for people to live healthy and happy lives.
The past decade has seen a steep increase in the number of young adults continuing to live with their parents as accommodation has become increasingly expensive and unaffordable to young people.

Many young adults don’t have the option to stay in the family home which is often overcrowded and are sofa-surfing in Milton Keynes. This is the typical background of young people who come to live at our YMCA.

We support 225 young adults at any one time at our Central Milton Keynes campus and estimate that we could accommodate ten times that number based on existing demand.

So, what is causing this unmet need to housing demand?
Quite simply, for decades, there has been an insufficient supply of new housing. Milton Keynes is building large numbers of new properties but not enough of the right type to meet the needs of young people. Large family homes are built for sale, with the social housing provided taken by families who are often living in overcrowded conditions. There isn’t enough in the mix for young people.

Recently large scale private-rented schemes have started to appear on the skyline in Central Milton Keynes and these offer high quality homes. However, rents are relatively expensive, and large deposits are required, making them unattainable for many young people.

Buying a home is even less achievable. Average house prices are now eleven times the average salary. This prevents most young people being able to get a mortgage and creates the perverse situation whereby young people are refused mortgages as unaffordable, despite the repayment terms being less than the rents they are forced to pay!

For existing homeowners rising house prices might at first seem like a good thing, but anyone with children should reflect on the implications over time. The first rung on the housing ladder is increasingly out of reach and what point is equity in your home if that needs to be released to help the next generation enter the market?

The commodification of housing – treating it as an asset driven by the profit motive, rather than as homes for people to live in has created a social crisis that is growing and which under existing housing policies will continue to grow.

Social housing is also broadly not an option for young people. Responsibility for homelessness was delegated by government to local authorities in the year I was born (I am almost 50). In response to the outcry from local government at their inability to manage the scale of this problem some ‘temporary’ measures were introduced to establish ‘priority need’. These criteria are still in place today and mean that young people, by virtue of being homeless alone, are not seen as a priority by social landlords.

So most young adults can’t afford to buy, can’t afford to rent privately, and can’t access social housing…

YMCA Milton Keynes are trying to fill this gap in provision. At our campus in Central Milton Keynes we offer high quality affordable homes for young adults in a positive and supportive community. We want to continue to support these young people once they have sustained employment and are ready to move-on into community settings in by developing a portfolio of move-on accommodation. However, planning rules, land availability, and construction costs are significant hurdles for us to overcome.

The election of a new government raises hope of a policy change and the make-up of the cabinet, including the first Secretary of State in charge of housing who has lived in social housing, raises the hope that the circumstances of ordinary young people may be better understood and responded to.

But the scale of this problem requires dramatic and bold actions. Without that the future living conditions for our young people is grim. We can make the necessary changes but as a starting point we need to clearly recognise the problem.

Simon Green, CEO, YMCA Milton Keynes
If you would like to find out more about our work or wish to share your thoughts with me on any of the above, please do get in touch. Email: simon.green@mkymca.com