Housing

Abstract

In Britain we are faced with a variety of housing problems. Crawley’s difficulties reflect one end of the spectrum; that of having plenty of jobs available but no one to fill them because there is not enough housing. There is such great demand for houses in this area that prices have increased beyond the reach of people who live in those parts of the country which have high unemployment.

Crawley personnel managers have found themselves in the ‘crazy’ situation of discussing the local labour shortage while elsewhere in Britain there is high unemployment. More than 100 managers from Gatwick firms and local industrial and commercial companies attended a special Institute of Personnel Management Crawley Group, meeting to discuss the ‘Mid Sussex Crisis’ of manpower shortage.

They fear that with the expansion of Gatwick and other local companies, thousands of people will want to move into the area but be unable to because of an acute housing shortage. A human resources management consultant claimed that the problems faced by a teacher who moved down from Newcastle highlights the housing problem. Because houses are in short supply and the demand is so great the man, who has sold his north-east home after repaying several years mortgage, only had enough money to afford a deposit on an inferior house.

He added, ‘I do not want to see the green fields where I live covered with houses, but I do not think we are going to have a lot of choice.’

Adapted from the Crawley

Observer, 22 February 1986.