Housing

Bradford District has approximately 200,000 homes. More than two-thirds of households live in semi detached or terraced homes, with the remainder living in flats or detached properties. In the inner city the number living in terraced houses alone, rises to 59%. There are around 5,000 back-to-back houses in the district, and 60% of these are in the inner city. The vast majority of properties have two or three bedrooms, although 24% of properties in Wharfedale and 22% in the inner city have 4 or more bedrooms.

* Tenure

Housing in the district is dominated by the private sector. The 2001 census results show that 73% of homes are owner-occupied, 9% of homes are rented privately; Bradford Community Housing Trust is now responsible for the 26,000 homes (12%) which were previously rented out by Bradford Council; and 6% are rented by a Registered Social Landlord (mainly by housing associations), or some other arrangement. These percentages are broadly in line with national figures.

The average household size in the District has fallen from 2.63 in 1991 to 2.55 in 2001, which is higher than the figure for England and Wales. Across the district, 29% of households are people living on their own, about half of these are pensioners. 22% of households are couples (married or cohabiting) with dependent children, and a further 7% are single parents living with their dependent children.

The results from the 2001 Census showed that 60% of the District's population aged over 16 years old are living as couples (married or cohabiting). This is very similar to the national picture, but is a slight increase from 1991. The remaining 40% of the population over 16 are either living on their own, as lone parents, or as part of larger households.

There are more households with dependent children in Bradford (34%) than nationally (30%). Since the 1991 Census, the total number of single parents with dependent children has almost doubled from 7,900 to 13,000. At 7.4%, the Bradford figure is higher than the national average (6.5%).

* Living Conditions

The average number of rooms for each household has risen from 4.9 in 1991 to 5.2 in 2001. Despite this, 8% of households in the District are overcrowded, the highest level in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

The proportion of households with central heating has increased from 62% in 1991 to 77% in 2001, this is still lower than the national average of 91%.

Age of Housing

The age of the housing stock is quite varied; nearly 39% of houses district-wide were built prior to 1919, although for the inner city, this figure rises to over 60%. Most house construction has taken place since the Second World War with 45% private sector stock, and 75% council housing being built in that period.

Council Housing

In March 2002 66% of Bradford's Council tenants voted in favour of transferring the ownership and management of their homes to Bradford Community Housing Trust Group (BCHT). The group is a Registered Social Landlord and consists of six new, independent, not-for-profit local housing trusts, a group trust and a maintenance organisation. The transfer took place early in 2003.

Of the stock of 25,000 homes. 25% of these were built before the Second World War. 51% of the properties are houses, and the remaining properties are flats and maisonettes.

An independent stock condition survey carried out in 1998 looked at a 13% sample of Council housing and found:

54% lacked full central heating systems
19% of kitchens were installed before 1974
18% of bathrooms were installed before 1974
18% contained electrical power systems installed before 1969.
8% were unfit under Section 604 of the 1989 Act
5% posed a health and safety threat to the occupants
47% of tenants have a head of household who is over the age of 65.

The main improvement works needed were identified as: new kitchens and bathrooms; double glazing; central heating; loft insulation; and security works. The cost of carrying out these improvements and other essential repairs to bring the whole stock up to a decent modern standard was estimated at £217m.

The Government Green Paper " Quality and Choice: A Decent Home For All " published in April 2001, set a target of bringing all social housing up to a decent standard by 2010.

Unlike the Council, BCHT Group will be governed by different spending rules, and will be able to borrow money to spend on making the necessary improvements to bring homes up to the Decent Homes Standard in the next five years.

Private Sector Housing

There are an estimated 159,000 dwellings in the private sector. 81% of this total is owner-occupied, 10% is privately rented, 5% is rented by a Registered Social Landlord, and other tenures account for the remaining 4%.

The majority of the dwellings are terraced. It is estimated that there are nearly 8,000 empty houses, of which more than 1,200 are estimated to be problematic 'long term' vacant. Empty dwellings in the private sector are concentrated in the Bradford inner city, where property values are low. These are also areas characterised by rapid growth of Asian population and out migration.

The Housing Market

The country as a whole has recently experienced a very fast increase in house prices, which has been sustained due to very low interest rates and a significant shortage of available properties stimulated by larger numbers of people entering the market either as first time buyers or more recently through the increased popularity of Buy to Let. House prices in the district have grown steadily following the regional trend:

The growth in house prices in the district has stimulated the number of people moving house - over 14,000 properties were sold in 2002, compared with just over 7,000 in 1995. This represents turnover of 8.9 % in private ownership.

Terraced properties remain the largest single property type bought within the district. Whilst the growth in the number of sales has been strong for all property types - the increase has been more noticeable amongst detached, semi-detached properties and flats rather than terraced properties more common in the inner city parts of the district.

There are important local discrepancies within the District; a recent report by Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) identified postal towns within the Yorkshire and Humber Region which have been winners and losers in terms of house prices within the last ten years. Two of the biggest winners -Bingley and Ilkley, are within the District, as are three of the biggest losers - Shipley, Keighley and Bradford.

Providing 25,000 new homes between 1998 and 2016 (Regional Planning Guidance)
57% of housing development on brown-field sites (Regional Planning Guidance)
Bring all council housing stock up to a decent standard by 2010 (Green Paper)

For more information

For information or advice about renting a private sector home see the Council's website: