Stockport's largest landlord has the lowest number of available social housing "ever recorded", according to new figures, with hundreds of people competing for each home.

Stockport Homes, a company which manages property on behalf of the council, has shared that it currently has 419 available properties serving a waiting list of almost 6,000 people.

The data, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), was shared on social media by Stockport MP Navendu Mishra in a letter addressed to council leader Mark Hunter about the "ever worsening crisis of supply and demand" for housing in the borough.

It showed that on average there are 200 applications per home, and as many as 600 for high demand properties.

Stockport Homes told the LDRS that "demand for council and housing association homes far exceeds supply", and that Stockport is facing an "acute shortage of affordable accommodation".

It added that in most cases, people applying for social housing are being forced to look at other options "due to the sheer lack of housing supply".

Stockport Interchange, and the accompanying block of flats, is a key Stockport development project (Image - Alasdair Perry)

Mr Mishra wrote in his letter that the council's housing strategy – which is focused on building new homes on brownfield land in the town centre rather than on the green belt – is "not addressing" the issue.

He also criticised Stockport Lib Dems and Conservatives for voting against a proposal in 2020 to join a Greater Manchester-wide housing scheme called the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) – a process which evolved into what is now the Places for Everyone scheme.

The local authority doesn't currently have a local plan for housing, after the council paused a consultation on creating one last year. Lib Dem Group leader Cllr Hunter said the delay was because "the government made it clear that the rules were going to change" in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

He told the LDRS: "Stockport's Liberal Democrats have always been clear that we need the right housing in the right places. We successfully argued to leave the GM Spatial Framework because the proposals would simply have released green belt land into the hands of developers and would have thwarted any attempts at a brownfield-first approach.

"We paused our consultation on our own local plan last year when the government made it clear that the rules were going to change, despite pressure from the Labour Group to continue. The new rules published just before Christmas make it clear that we no longer need to include green belt sites and our decision to pause has saved council tax payers some £200,000 in what would have been a worthless consultation."

Stockport Town Hall (Image - Alasdair Perry)

He added: "Labour seem hell-bent on concreting over the green belt, putting more profitable plots of land in the hands of developers and thereby stalling any efforts to redevelop our urban core and other, previously developed sites. We will not allow this to happen on our watch."

An update to the NPPF was shared by the Government in December, and Stockport council is now looking at moving forward with its local plan after receiving clarity from the framework that "there is no requirement on a local authority to review or alter its green belt boundaries".

The council has sought legal advice about the best way to proceed with creating a local plan, and a meeting has been scheduled in February to discuss the process.

Cllr Hunter said the timings for Stockport's local development plan will be shared over the next month, and that it "will deliver housing across the borough".

A number of development schemes are currently taking place in Stockport with the aim of creating 4,000 new homes, mostly in the town centre. This includes projects run by Stockport Mayoral Development Corporation such as Stockport 8 – a plan to create a neighbourhood with 1,000 new homes next to the town's historic viaduct.

Stockport 8 is another key town centre development (Images - Stockport Council)

However, questions have been raised over whether the developments could price out local residents.

According to the council, 25 percent of the 1,400 new homes currently being built in Stockport town centre will be designed as "affordable". Mr Mishra wrote in his letter that this will "exert upwards pressure on prices in central Stockport and neighbouring areas".

Stockport Labour Group leader Cllr David Meller said the council needs to consider building on "parts of the green belt" that have already been developed to tackle the problem.

He told the LDRS: "We must have a spread of housing of all types – not just apartment blocks and high-density in the town centre – right across the borough, where all areas take their reasonable share. This is why it's vital we have a local plan reflecting this.

"We should always consider brownfield land first. Stockport Labour pioneered this work. However, we also need to consider parts of the green belt that have already been developed.

"We need to consider the potential to sensitively develop affordable and social housing within the green belt. Indeed, this is something that can happen under the new planning regulations published by the Government.

"Above all, we're simply not delivering enough housing for people now and into the future."

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