Big drop in Dudley affordable housing schemes

The number of affordable housing schemes started in Dudley has plummeted by more than 70 per cent, new figures reveal today.

The borough has seen the biggest drop in the region – with other areas seeing an average 50 per cent decrease.

There were 72 schemes started between March 2011 and April 2012 in Dudley, compared with 240 in the previous year.

The figures came under fire from Dudley North MP Ian Austin, who said there were families in desperate need of a home.

"The £4 billion cut to the affordable housing budget not only led to a disastrous collapse in affordable house building over the past year but hit the construction and house building industries hard, helping tip us back into double-dip recession," he said.

Across the region, building work began on 405 developments between March 2011 and April 2012 compared with 872 during the previous 12 months.

The number of schemes completed during the past financial year was 817 compared with 1,541 in 2010/11. The Government wants up to 170,000 affordable homes to be built around the country between 2011 and 2015.

The figures released by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) cover Dudley, Wolverhampton, Sandwell and Walsall as well as Cannock, Stafford, Lichfield and Wyre Forest.

The number of housing schemes started in 2011/12 fell in every area except Wolverhampton where building work began on 52 developments compared with 51 during 2010/11.

Although fewer homes were built and completed over the space of a year in Walsall, it had the most developments of all of the Black Country boroughs.

In 2010/11, work started on 234 homes in Walsall, and in 2011/12, work started on 157. Work finished on 652 developments in 2010/11, and 110 in 2011/12.

The number of housing scheme completions fell in every area expect Dudley where they were up to 314 from 163. The biggest drop was in Walsall where only 110 were finished compared with 652.

By Heather Large