As more babies are being born to Grantham and South Kesteven mothers,
I believe this increase will continue to add pressure to over stretched
Grantham property market and materially affect the local property market in the
years to come.
On the back of eight years of ever incremental increasing birth
rates, a significant 3.35 babies were born for every new home that was built in
the South Kesteven Council area in 2016. I believe this has and will continue
to exacerbate the Grantham housing shortage, meaning demand for housing, be it
to buy or rent, has remained high. The high birth rate has meant Grantham rents
and Grantham property prices have remained resilient – even with the challenges
the economy has felt over the last eight years, and they will continue to
remain high in the years to come.
This ratio of births to new homes has reach one its highest
levels since 1945 (back in the 1960’s the average was one birth for every household built).
Looking at the local birth rates, the latest figures show we in the South
Kesteven Council area had an average of 63.1 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to
44. Interestingly, the national average is 61.7 births per 1,000 women aged 15
to 44 and for the region its 61.3 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44
The number of births from the Grantham and South Kesteven women
between the ages of 20 to 29 are much higher than the national average, but
those between 35 and 44 were significantly lower. However overall, the birth
rate is still increasing, and when that fact is combined with the ever
increasing life expectancy in the Grantham area, the high levels of net
migration into area over the last 14 years (which I talked about in the
previous articles) and the higher predominance of single person households …
this can only mean one thing .. a huge increase in the need for housing in
Grantham.
Again, in a previous article a while back, I said more and more
tenants are having children as tenants because they feel safe in rented
accommodation. Renting is becoming a choice for Grantham people.
The planners and Politian’s of our local authority, central
Government and people as a whole need to recognise that with individuals living
longer, people having more children and whilst divorce rates have dropped
recently, they are still at a relatively high level (meaning one household
becomes two households) .. demand for property is simply outstripping
supply.
The simple fact is more Grantham properties need to built
… be that for buying or renting.
Only 1.1% of the Country is built on by houses. Now I am not
suggesting we build tower blocks in the middle of the Cotswolds, but the
obsession of not building on any green belt land should be carefully re-considered.
Yes, we need to build on brownfield
sites first, but there aren’t hundreds of acres of brownfield sites in
Grantham, and what brownfield sites there are, building on them can only work
with complementary public investment. Many such sites are contaminated and
aren’t financially viable to develop, so unless the Government put their hand
in their pocket, they will never be built on.
I am not saying we should crudely
go ‘hell for leather’ building on our
Green Belt, but we need a new approach to enable some parts of the countryside
to be regarded more positively by local authorities, politicians and
communities and allow considered and empathetic development. Society in the UK needs
to look at the greenbelts outside their leisure and visual appeal, and assess
how they can help to shape the way we live in the most even-handed way.
Interesting times!
For more thoughts on Grantham
Property market – visit the Grantham Property Blog
