More than a hundred local authorities, including East Riding and Hull, have published a report calling for action to secure the future of council housing.
On Tuesday, a cross-party coalition of councils that also act as landlords jointly published a report with five solutions for the government to ‘secure the future of England’s council housing’. The report warns urgent action is required for the government to deliver its housing promises, and calls for a one-off £641m payment to help councils with management and maintenance of their housing.
Analysis by Savills finds authorities face a £2.2bn black hole in their housing budgets verses required costs by 2028. A government spokesperson has said it will give councils and housing associations the stability they need, and set out further detail at the next spending review.
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The detailed council housing report, led by Southwark Council with contributions from housing policy experts Toby Lloyd and Rose Grayston, lays out a roadmap to renew the country's council housing over the next decade.
Its core recommendations include:
- A new, fair and sustainable Housing Revenue Accounts (HRA) model, the system by which councils record income and expenditure on their own housing stock; the recommendation also includes the £641m one-off injection
- Reform Right to Buy, with councils permanently keeping 100 per cent right to buy receipts, for replacement social rent homes
- Removing red tape on existing funding
- A new, long-term Green & Decent Homes Programme
- Urgent action to restart stalled building projects.
Savills £2.2bn black hole analysis warns, unless more is done soon, most council landlords will struggle to maintain their existing homes adequately. Some councils could have no option but to sell some of their housing.
East Riding and Hull are listed council signatories to the securing council housing report. "East Riding of Yorkshire Council are pleased to be one of the many councils who aim to improve access to affordable homes for our residents through this coalition," said Anne Handley, East Riding Council leader.
"By investing in council houses together we can improve the lives of many as well as future generations to come. The five solutions are fundamental in demonstrating to the new government a way in which the urgent needs for council homes can be achieved. Furthermore, we want our council homes to be safe, modern and within the green standards.
"As a council we want to demonstrate a commitment to the best interests of residents within the local community, ensuring that that they are presented with fair opportunities to access council housing and that their homes are of the highest standard possible."
A Hull City Council spokesperson said: "Good quality council homes transform lives, but the council housing financial model is no longer sustainable and we require urgent action from the Government. Without more support, councils will struggle to maintain their existing homes adequately or meet the huge new demands to improve them, let alone build new homes for social rent.
"Hull City Council is pleased to have been involved from the beginning in compiling this report, and urges the new government to adopt its recommendations. These solutions make up a plan for a decade of renewal, with local authorities and central government working together to plug the black holes in councils’ Housing Revenue Accounts and get them back on stable foundations.
"This will enable councils like Hull to bring homes up to modern and green standards and deliver the next generation of council homes, providing the quality homes at affordable rents that local people need."
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A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson acknowledged the decline in social rented home numbers in recent years. "We are facing the most acute housing crisis in living memory and that is why we are working at pace to reverse the continued decline in the number of social rent homes.
"The government has already given councils more flexibility to use Right to Buy receipts to deliver more social housing. This is on top of an additional £450 million for councils to secure homes for families at risk of homelessness.
"We have made clear we will give councils and housing associations the stability they need and will set out further details at the next spending review."
Ministers are committed to talking to councils, including the report's signatories, about addressing the sector's challenges. The previous government ended giving councils 100 per cent of right to buy sale receipts in the spring, having done so for two years. Instead, 75-80 per cent right to buy receipts now remain with the local authority.
There is to be increasing flexibility on how to use the receipts, though. Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, who heads the housing and local government ministry, has confirmed details of future government investment in social and affordable housing will be brought forward at the next spending review. This is due next spring.
