Stockport hit a grim milestone this week.

The borough's housing register has now grown so big that it will take 12 years to find homes for everyone waiting, council officials have said.

That means at least some of the 8,000 people who have put their name down for social housing in the borough will be left waiting until 2036 before they are offered a place to live. And the 8,000 figure could be be much higher, as it only accounts for individuals not including any family members they may live with.

The Stockport Labour Party leader reckoned there could be as many as 16,000 people on the housing register in total.

Meanwhile, a report from the company managing the council's properties said that many people looking for social housing are currently living in overcrowded conditions, crammed into homes which are too small, a situation the council's housing lead described as "dire."

So how did it come this?

Stockport town centre (Image - Alasdair Perry)

Stockport's housing shortage

In February, Stockport Homes boss Helen McHale sounded the alarm about the number of available homes in the borough.

In an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), she said the "outstripping of demand compared to supply is massive," and that the company gets 200 bids for every social home it advertises.

It followed concerns in January from the town's MP Navendu Mishra who said there was a "crisis" of supply and demand for housing, and shared that at one point there were more than 6,000 people on the housing register at the time, with just 419 available properties to apply for.

The lack of housing in Stockport has also been highlighted in controversial planning decisions this year.

In January, a decision was made on an application to build 200 homes on a plot of land in Hazel Grove known as Mirrlees Fields. A petition against the proposal was signed by more than 5,000 people and Stockport council rejected the plan at a town hall meeting in December 2022, saying the loss of green open space would outweigh the benefits of the development.

Mirrlees Fields (Image - Alasdair Perry)

But after an appeal and inquest, the Planning Inspector (PI) overruled the council and said there are not enough homes being built in the borough.

The PI gave 'very significant weight to the social benefits of the proposal,' which included a mix of market rate and affordable homes.

And it ruled that over a five-year period Stockport was not building enough homes to meet the demand, despite a number of projects taking place around the town centre to put up new apartment blocks.

The goalposts on housing numbers have since changed, when the newly elected Labour government announced plans to bring in mandatory housing targets.

For Stockport, it means the borough will have to build 1,906 new homes each year, nearly double the previous target of 1,097.

After the announcement, the council's local plan, which was being prepared to go out to public consultation, had to be delayed again, after several setbacks in recent years.

The plan to introduce housing targets has faced criticism from the Lib Dem controlled council, who accused the government of "concreting over the green belt across Stockport."

Rising rent prices

There are fears that the town centre is becoming more expensive as a result of the lack of housing. Nearly 200 new flats were built at the town's new transport interchange and park, and these hit the market in May.

One-bedroom flats at the new Stockport interchange development were priced around £1,000 a month, with some two-bedrooms rising to £1,500.

Council leader Mark Hunter said the new homes at the interchange were evidence of the positive changes taking place around the town, which has a £1 billion investment programme currently underway, and has won national praise for the quality of life in the area.

Stockport Interchange (Image - Alasdair Perry)

But the Labour group warned that the town could fall victim to the "pitfalls of gentrification" and price people out unless action was taken.

While market rent prices continues to climb, the number of social housing available in Stockport has been hit by houses sold through the Right to Buy Scheme.

One council official said this week that the scheme has "decimated" the borough's social housing stock, and that the town hall has lost around half of its social homes since the 1980s.

'Unprecedented' homelessness

In June, a report revealed that Stockport was facing a surge in homelessness, with 'unprecedented' numbers of people asking the council for help.

Town hall officials said at the time that the council expected to spend around £1 million on hotel accommodation this year, as huge numbers of people were left without anywhere to call home.

The number of people reported to be sleeping rough in the town was found to be 'double historic levels,' a situation which left senior councillors appealing to the government to step in.

Cllr Colin MacAlister, Stockport's housing chief, said that the positive press the town was gaining could be adding to the numbers of people moving there but struggling to find a home.

He added: "We've seen all the headlines that we're one of the best places to live, retire, and bring up your children – but that in itself causes even more problems in housing when we have a decreasing housing stock.

"We need to address that problem, but until we get that national help we will do what we can."

Hope on the horizon?

While there are major issues with housing in Stockport, the Lib Dems say there are plans to address it.

They are planning to build 4,000 new homes over the next few years based on previously developed sites, and much of that work has helped to transform the town centre from a former industrial hub into what it is today.

Council leader Mark Hunter told the LDRS in April that he is fully aware of the urgency of Stockport's housing need, and that there are plans to continue creating new jobs and homes in the borough.

He added: "We're keen to bring more jobs and new homes, there is a need for more new homes as we've always accepted, but for us it's making sure they go to the right places."

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