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A review of house building has called for changes to the current system to ensure new homes are built faster and for thousands more British bricklayers to be trained to help meet government targets.
Sir Oliver Letwin was commissioned by the government to examine what could be done to speed up the slow rate of house building on major sites.
His study, published today, warns developers are slowing the system down by limiting the number of new built homes that are released for sale at any one time.
Government figures taken from 'Quarterly Right to Buy Sales in England: October to December 2017-18’ show dwindling numbers of social housing under the Right to Buy scheme.
The data shows:
- that in the last year, 11,649 social homes have been sold off – while only 4,566 social homes are being built
- this means only one social home is being built for almost every three sold
Campaigns Director for housing and homelessness charity Shelter, Greg Beales said “These dismal figures show that at a time when more families than ever need affordable homes, their chances of getting one are being wrenched away.
A shocking four in ten people (43%) in Britain live in homes which fail to meet the ‘Living Home Standard’ – a measure of what makes an acceptable home.
Designed to be the housing equivalent of the Living Wage, the new Living Home Standard was developed by the public, for the public through a series of discussion groups, workshops and surveys. For the first time it revealed a measure of what everyone should have from a home in order to live, rather than just get by.
One year on from the tragic Grenfell fire, and many survivors are still waiting for a new home – but new analysis from Shelter reveals the situation is similarly stark right across the country.
Over one million households in need of a social home are stuck on long waiting lists, often for years on end. Yet the number of social homes becoming available is extremely low. leading to a huge gap.
Shelter’s analysis shows there are 1.15m households on waiting lists, but only 290,000 social homes were made available last year – a difference of more than 800,000 homes.
Councils will receive new powers to help them deliver the homes their communities need under proposed regulations published this week by Housing Minister Dominic Raab MP.
Under new rules, councils will be able to seek government’s approval to launch a New Town Development Corporation, which will be responsible for delivering new towns and garden communities in their area.
The new bodies themselves will be responsible for master planning and project development, bringing on board private investment, partnering with developers and overseeing the completion of a new town or garden village with each expected to deliver tens of thousands of new homes.
Kelly Henderson, co-founder of DAHA, said "DAHA’s mission is to improve the housing sector’s response to domestic abuse.
"We are very proud to be part of this pledge and commend CIH for taking the initiative to reach out to housing providers. We know the sector plays a crucial role in recognising and responding to domestic abuse and this pledge is a really easy way to not only demonstrate commitment but also take the first practical steps to improve your organisational response for both staff and residents.
"The spotlight on this issue in the housing sector is long overdue as we know that on average two women a week are murdered by a partner (or ex-partner). This campaign will make a positive difference and undoubtedly save lives."
2% of councils in England say that new development in their area meets policy requirements for affordable housing, according to a report by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA).
The research, which was taken from a survey of almost 90 councils, highlights the lack of resources available to local authorities trying to meet demand for affordable homes, with 70% of respondents saying that they are forced to rely ‘substantially’ on developer contributions to secure even this amount.
Councils and charities have long called for government to lift the HRA borrowing cap, which would give local authorities greater freedom to meet housing demand in their areas. The chancellor, Phillip Hammond, last year announced an additional £2bn of funding to help councils fund their own affordable housing projects and a lifting of the HRA borrowing cap, but this has been criticised for being available only in ‘high-value’ areas and for being inaccessible for at least another year.