Memoranda from Armand Toms (CRED 01)
Dear Minister, As
a local councillor I have felt for some time that my own community was
suffering and during a debate at the District Council I highlighted the fact
that local businesses and people were suffering with the slowdown in the
economy mainly due to the lack of tourists coming to this area. Nearly
every day someone would tell me that they were struggling with payments of
rents and tourist related businesses were down as much as 25% or more.
Although on the outside small towns and villages in Cornwall may look idyllic
and prosperous yet this all to often hides the fact that their economy is based
on one industry (tourism) and by removing a small percentage of visitors
or the money they spend it has a great impact. I have spoken to many of
the family tourists that have visited this year and they have stated openly
that whilst in other years each day they would have been on say and boat trip
and had fish and chips this year they have done only one or the other.
Whilst these people have still come there spending power is much reduced due to
the raise in the mortgage rate and the high price of fuel, everyone in the
country has felt these increases and
As
an area Cornwall suffers with poor infrastructure and transport links which
restrict job opportunities for it's residents this means that wage rates are
low in fact one of the lowest in the country, this coupled with some of the
highest house prices and affordability ratios of up to15 times incomes you
can see that there is no such thing as
an affordable house at local wage rates. Local
people wishing to stay in the communities in which they were born find it a
near impossibility and even those who become skilled have little or no chance
of purchasing a house, all to often they move away to get a better life for
their families, but this means that communities and families are broken up and
create an unsustainable pressure of those towns and villages. Take Polperro which was once a thriving fishing village with an
all year round economy now the heart of the village has been taken out with
areas of village with 60 or 70% second homes, thus making businesses
unsustainable all year so many have closed (this list in Polperro
is very long but I hope I give you a flavour of what is happening).
Affordable and social housing is the only way for many local people to stay in
communities they were born or work in and whilst you can see deprivation in
Cities as they are confined areas Cornwall's is hidden because it is 100 miles
long with only 500k people living in it, a similar distance of from the edge of
London to the edge of Birmingham. We as a County need support in the way you
have proposed and the following facts from other organisations will show the
dramatic increases in and the vulnerability of the housing market and the
impact of it's residents. The latest information from a national paper
shows that whilst house repossessions nationally have risen 17% in Devon
and Cornwall they have risen 41% indicating that the credit crunch is hitting
the south west greater than most. The CAB recently released the following
information to show what effects the credit crunch is having in
The
Credit Crunch In Figures from CAB Cornwall
Housing Quarter 1st Oct- 31st Dec Quarter 1st Jan-31st March Actual Homeless 51 88 72% increase Threatened Homeless 97 161 66% increase Access to/ Provision of Accom 43 72 67% increase Housing Assoc Properties 26 59 127% increase Private Sector Rented Prop 266 452 70% increase LA Homelessness Services 22 53 141% increase Debts Mortgage and Secured loan arrears 133 223 67% increase Fuel Debts 100 186 86% increase Rent Arrears Local Auth 57 87 52% increase Rent Arrears Housing Assoc 53 64 21% increase Rent Arrears Private Landlords 50 75 50% increase
In addition to the above it should be noted that the insolvency rate for the district is the second worst in the south west and twelfth worst in the country. Minister I hope you find time to read this submission and that the committee will help the people of Cornwall to stay in their homes, have access to affordable housing and have the chance of decent social housing. Thank you for your attention. October 2008
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