Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Cost of Housing in Harringay
With housing costs now at preposterous levels in Harringay, particularly on the ladder, does anyone have any thoughts as to how this issue may be tackled. It is now no exaggeration to say that we are in the midst of a housing crisis with only the most affluent being able to afford to live in the area. This, coupled with the introduction of the benefit cap pilot in Haringey, is having a terrible effect on individuals, and particularly families, in the area.
One thing we could do for a start is try to halt the money being spent on doing up Green Lanes. This is a terrible idea for us that live in the area as it is only going to lead to more gentrification and higher housing costs for us all. My feeling is that this is being pushed by the Traders on Green Lanes and the impact on rents and house prices has not been considered. I see the benefits for the Traders but see little benefits for us that live here.
All this is going hand on hand with the continued gentrification and change in social make up of the area that is also pushing up housing costs.
It's the million dollar question, but any ideas?
Tags for Forum Posts: housing
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Christopher Fowler on
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You are right, John D. Your home just costs more. It is not worth more because a home is not a realisable asset. So long as you are alive, you need a place to live. You can only realise the value tied up in your home by selling it. You then have to buy another, and unless you move to a cheaper part of the country, you will pay just as much, if not more, for your new home.
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Paul - House prices rising at a rate that exceeds the general rate of inflation is good for home-owners. It is not good for anyone who is trying to get a mortgage to buy a home, or someone trying to rent a place to live. Those of us fortunate enough to own a home are benefitting while many others (including in the case of many of us of A Certain Age, our children) are suffering. The current rise in house prices is another unsustainable bubble, deliberately being stoked up by Osborne and his schemes for underwriting, with taxpayers' money, mortgages for first time buyers. So long as the building of new homes lags so far behind demand, housing price boom and bust will continue, contributing to the cycle of boom and bust in the economy generally in the UK.
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Permalink Reply by JJ on
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Bully for you Paul, but for the other half of Haringey that rent, gentrification of your local area is not a cause for celebration.
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Permalink Reply by james walsh on
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Thanks so much jj - Peter cook https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPJK2zKtAxQ
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Permalink Reply by CanadianMichael on
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I think the problem is immigration. If we could stop all those foreigners coming over here and stealing English jobs, there'd be less pressure on housing. Send them all home, the job-stealing benefits scroungers.
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Apparently David Cameron is also blaming us ... http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/8895331/fortress-britain/
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Grim reading (and the comments section even grimmer!). I hope my bandinage didn't accidentally rub salt in an open wound - but I was assuming your previous comment wasn't meant to be taken seriously.
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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What an interesting (and depressing) article. Somewhat ironically I happen to know that in her day job she is an academic who has written about public attitudes to - guess what - immigration.
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Permalink Reply by Rachel Fisher on
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Completely agree that one of the issues with the housing crisis is that we're not building enough homes in the right areas. This is exacerbated by people who own property in an area objecting to the building of new homes. Over the years that I've been lurking on HoL I've noticed that by and large people object to the building of new homes in Harringay. The most recent one I can remember was the one up by Hornsey Station. Looked like a decent scheme to me and the problem with it wasn't the homes but the misplaced commercial / retail on the ground floor (we are not lacking in commercial / retail in this area). From my experience working in and around this industry, it's clear that people object more vociferously than they support the building of new housing. A few NIMBYs can completely derail a planning applications, because you never hear from the people who are struggling to get into homes that they can afford. The most common objection is a strain on infrastructure or public services - when honestly, you bring more people into an area and you will be able to support more (and a greater diversity of) services. Infrastructure is an issue, and car dependency in particular. However, we are in an area that is frighteningly well connected by public transport.
In my day-job I work for the National Housing Federation, which is the trade-body for Housing Associations. We're currently running a campaign called Yes to Homes. This is all about trying to tap into the support for new housing that we believe exists around the country. JJ's post confirms (as do the comments) that housing affordability is an issue in Harringay. Stopping investment into the high street won't help this. Building more homes, ensuring that empty properties are brought into use, just might... though I would add a caveat that this our super local market is also being driven by the unaffordability of the surrounding areas.
Have a look at the website www.yestohomes.co.uk there's a really excellent video outlining the issue with housing affordability. You can also contact your local councillor to say 'yes to homes' and also follow the campaign on twitter @yestohomes
To be clear, I really support the regeneration investment into Green Lanes. I love this area and really want to see it flourish. We are seeing the neighbourhood change. This happens over time in all areas. How we deal with the fallout from that change ... that's an interesting question. JJ's really right to point out that the link with welfare reform. Personally, I don't know what the fallout is going to be in terms of gentrification of Harringay, but I do know that this is going to be a very tough time for a lot of people. And the thing that worries me most is that London will become more like New York, and cease to be a 'real' place with a mix of people. But that's probably the subject of a much longer post.
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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Totally agree with Rachel. I too have been dismayed by the opposition to any proposal to build new homes in this area. Either we continue to cram more and more people into outdated Victorian 3-beds or we build modern, energy-efficient blocks of flats.
Three examples, all of which have been met with shock, horror we don't want that here - Hornsey Station. Wards Corner and the former petrol station on West Green road. Why ? " Because it's out of keeping with the character of the neighbourhood " " local services will be overloaded "
If you have an area like Wards Corner, which has the modern Apex house and Tesco, why object to a modern building as proposed by Graingers ? I personally don't like the brutalist design of the Hornsey scheme but it's in an industrial area bordered by railway workshops and the Inspace barracks so what's wrong with providing new homes there ? Local services will change according to demand - why do you think there are so many fast food outlets on Green Lanes ? Perhaps because so many people live in accommodation with inadequate cooking facilities ? This is the 21st Century, people - let's stop obstructing developers just because they are big billion-pound businesses and let them build 21st Century homes for us. Scrutinise the plans, by all means, but knee-jerk opposition just prolongs the housing crisis.
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