26 COMMENT COMMENT
SOCIAL RENT IN DECLINE
Patrick Mooney
Patrick Mooney, housing consultant and news editor of Housing, Management & Maintenance magazine discusses how homes available for social rent appear to be in terminal decline – at a time when they are needed the most
IN FACT OVER THE PAST
DECADE, THERE HAS BEEN A TOTAL NET LOSS OF
165,000 SOCIAL HOMES
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y some strange irony, at a time when the country is witnessing its worst cost of living crisis in decades, we also happen to be building fewer and fewer homes for social rent. Indeed without signifi cant intervention from the central Government, this worrying trend could continue for many more years to come. Affordability is the key issue here as the cost of housing plays such a vital part in determining the quality of life for millions of people across the country. It can make the difference between thriving and just about surviving.
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In the more extreme cases, it can see people forced into unsuitable accommodation, or onto the streets. This is evidenced by the rising tide of temporary housing, evictions, homelessness and rough sleeping in offi cial statistics. All are increasing at alarming rates at present and making a powerful case for action given their impact on people’s education, employment and health.
Social rent homes are an essential part of the solution to our current housing crisis, particularly for lower income households
because social rents are pegged at about 50% of market rents, compared to the fi gure associated with ‘so-called’ affordable rents. ut in the last fi nancial year that we have
fi gures for , there was a net loss of , social homes across ngland as , social homes were either sold mostly through the ight to uy scheme or demolished and only 7,500 new social homes were built to replace them.
The vast majority of new homes currently being built by housing associations are Shared Ownership for sale properties or the higher cost ‘affordable rent’ homes, which many of their new occupants struggle to afford. In fact over the past decade, there has been a total net loss of , social homes. At the same time there are roughly . million households on local authority waiting lists, waiting to be allocated a home which they desperately need and can afford.
THE IMPACT OF RIGHT TO BUY
The role played by the Right to Buy scheme in creating the current crisis is a controversial one and it is diffi cult to reconcile the many
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