1,000 wait for affordable homes in Bacup and Stacksteads (From Lancashire Telegraph)

1,000 wait for affordable homes in Bacup and Stacksteads

1:37pm Wednesday 10th February 2010 in

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MORE than 1,000 people are on a waiting list for affordable housing in Bacup and Stacksteads, councillors have been told.

Council housing bosses admit there is a desperate shortage of low-cost accommodation in the adjoining towns.

Currently there are 608 applications lodged with the authority’s choice-based lettings service, wanting to live in Bacup and Stacksteads, and another 477 who may be eligible to live there following a housing assessment.

The letting service operates a points based system and waiting times can vary according to individual status.

The revelation came as members of the borough’s development control committee debated proposed alterations to 11 soon-to-be-built homes in Pendle Avenue, Bacup.

These properties would be managed by Burnley-based Calico Housing Association and offered as affordable homes.

Under the amendments, the new homes would be reduced from two-and-a-half storeys to two, with existing plans for integral garages deleted.

Planning official Adrian Harding, speaking on behalf of the council’s regeneration department, said: “There is certainly 600 people looking to live in that area and a further 400 who could be eligible.

“There is quite a need for that kind of housing in Bacup and Stacksteads.”

But neighbours feared that the arrival of housing association tenants could lead to a rise in anti-social behaviour and affect house prices.

People living nearby also claimed that the proposals would lead to parking problems along the steep Pendle Avenue.

Residents spokesman Anna-Marie Sautejeau said emergency vehicles and refuse wagons already struggled with the access route.

Councillors agreed to alter the homes plans, subject to a legal agreement with Calico over the ownership and rental of the properties.