Strategic Housing Investment Plan 2010 - Falkirk Council

3.16 In terms of new build completions in respect of private sector housing, the position
in Falkirk is consistent with that across the rest of Scotland.
Figure A
Number of sales
800
600
400
200
0
Number of new build sales Jan-Dec 2004-2009
in Falkirk Council area
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Source: Scottish Government LHS data pack
3.17 Whilst it remains difficult to predict when the situation will return to ‘normal’, there
is a general consensus that it is likely to be many years before the building
industry is delivering the amount of new housing that it was doing in the first seven
or eight years of the century. The economic picture described last year has
changed little. Key issues remain:
Year
• Significant slowdown in the housing market,
• Completed new homes lying empty,
• Reduction in new build output,
• Scottish Government’s house building targets are not being met,
• Static house prices,
• Restricted access to mortgage products and loans,
• Increase in mortgage defaults,
• Increase in homelessness,
• Job losses within the building sector and support services,
• Loss of skills in the longer term which could affect future building capacity,
• Reduced developer contributions (“Planning Gain”) affecting community
infrastructure.
3.18 In some local authority areas the credit crunch has led to dramatic falls in house
prices, but Figure B overleaf indicates that in the Falkirk Council area, house
prices have actually largely remained fairly static – both new build and resale
prices have fallen slightly with new build taking a sharper descent and coming
closer to the 2004 price equivalent. Figure C overleaf, shows that the key issue
locally is not so much the prices of houses but rather the relationship between
house prices and income and the ability of people on low to moderate incomes to
obtain mortgages.
22