18 COMMENT
the taxpayer money, boost obs, reduce the burden of poor housing on our and improve childrens life chances. f this overnment or the next is serious about wanting the economy to grow and people to thrive, investing in genuinely affordable housing is a no brainer. uilding , social homes would pay for themselves and return an impressive .bn back to the economy in ust three years.
• further , landlords in ngland started ection no-fault eviction court proceedings in a rise in one year.
s if these fi gures are not frightening enough, the housing charity helter has found that most renters move out before the end of their notice period to avoid the eviction claim going to court, so the repossession statistics only show part of a much bigger problem. helter adds that it takes a third of tenants longer than two months to fi nd a new home the last time they moved, he overnment fi rst promised to scrap no fault evictions back in and in May , it fi nally committed to the policy by publishing the Renters Reform ill. ut more recently they said the ban will only be introduced after unspecifi ed court reforms take place, threatening to deny and delay the change renters were promised almost fi ve years ago, until some unspecifi ed date after the election. hese are all symptoms of a supply system which is suffering from extreme stress, particularly in the under-provision of new social homes being provided by councils and housing associations. The number of social homes being built has been on a downward traectory for years, but has now reached an absolute low point. n short, the situation is pretty dire.
A READY-MADE SOLUTION et ust before the budget, the ational ousing ederation and helter teamed up to submit a growth plan to the chancellor which could have delivered about , social or affordable homes and which more than paid for itself in ust three years by providing a massive boost to the rest of the economy and in particular the construction sector. eremy unt could have been a hero by embracing this plan, but instead
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he identifi ed the need to cut benefi ts from those voters who would normally occupy these low rent homes and who he considered to be non-deserving. n deciding to take this line, he instead became the villain of the piece. he plan showed that within ust three years, the , social rent homes will have paid for themselves and returned .bn back into the economy, largely by boosting the construction industry. t would directly support nearly , obs in the fi rst year alone. n addition the new social homes would generate huge savings for the taxpayer across multiple departments, as follows • .bn savings on housing benefi t • .bn income from construction taxes
• .bn income from employment taxes
• .bn savings to the • .bn savings from reduction in homelessness and
• .bn savings to niversal redit.
he total economic and social benefi ts of building , social rent homes would generate .bn net over years which is .bn gross, including a bn profi t to the taxpayer. iven the state of the nations fi nances, these fi gures are far too large to ust be dismissed out of hand, yet Mr unt appears to have done ust this.
INVESTMENT IS THE SOLUTION olly eate, chief executive of helter, commented omelessness is a political choice. y ignoring the vast number of people losing their homes, he is harming both the economy and people whose lives are being wrecked by homelessness. he hancellor is right that investment is the best way to improve productivity. ad he invested in building , social homes a year he could end homelessness, save
longside the udget, the overnment set out a vision for Leeds to unlock , homes, and in ondon, it is establishing the uston ousing elivery roup with plans to deliver up to , new homes. t is also stimulating housing delivery in cities and urban areas, where housing delivery has dipped. ollowing on from the m allocated to housing proects in heffi eld, lackpool and iverpool in early March, the udget allocated over m to proects in ondon, unlocking up to , homes in arking and a new life sciences hub and up to homes in anary Wharf. he trouble is as impressive as these plans and funding allocations are, they will take time to have an impact and they are too late to help todays homeless. ne measure that could help local authorities to deliver more affordable housing, is that the overnment increased the cap from to on the percentage of the cost of a replacement home that can be funded from right-to-buy receipts. ut once again this could be deemed as being too little and too late. t will not have an impact on today or this years supply of new social homes. he children living in temporary accommodation today will need to be patient if they are to benefi t from this. But in the meantime their schooling will be badly disrupted. study by helter found that over a third of the children placed in temporary accommodation had missed more than a month of school.
n closing ate enderson, chief executive of the ational ousing ederation said ur research showed not only that the housing crisis can be solved, but that this can be done in a way that will save the taxpayer money, boost obs and bring huge benefi ts to the wider economy.
Building more social homes is a win-win solution. t will immediately boost the construction industry, supporting thousands of obs, and will save the overnment and taxpayer money over the longer term. It also brings huge benefi ts to people affected by the housing crisis through reducing homelessness, increasing employment and boosting childrens life chances. o, why has the hancellor chosen to ignore the plan?
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