As an 18-year-old who has grown up in Horden and lived on a street due to be knocked down because of a compulsory purchase order, the housing problem is a stark but unsurprising one that I’ve only seen get worse throughout my lifetime – especially after ownership of the homes went from housing associations to private landlords when I was a kid (A house for £1? What a day at a property auction taught me about the UK housing crisis, 18 May).
I love where I am from so much, but it is an area crying out for change, and the amount of press attention that Horden gets shows it. I myself feel part of the problem as I am relocating to the saturated north-west to start a degree apprenticeship in Manchester – not because I wanted to move away, but I felt as if there wasn’t the same opportunity at home, although I will certainly move back.
Maybe I should make clear that there is a lot to be positive about – as shown in your article about Ian McKellen’s visit to Horden to formally open a new space for the theatre company Ensemble ’84 (Ian McKellen ‘emotional’ as he opens County Durham theatre space, 17 May). As a young person I feel a responsibility to beat the drum of optimism from time to time, but I don’t see how the housing spiral in my village will end without a change in legislation instead of putting out individual fires (often literally).
I see it as more than ironic, therefore, that when measuring deprivation, Horden scores as one of the lowest (least deprived) areas in the country in terms of housing, and then as one of the highest for every single other measure. I write this letter in the hope that someone with legislative power feels the urge to react, or at least have an honest conversation about how we’ve got to where we are: “Shy bairns get nowt,” as they say.
Robert Lodge
Horden, County Durham
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