Devolve to protect council housing
Author: Jack Airey |
In support of our new report, Power Behind The Home, Localis research fellow and report author Jack Airey writes on how devolution could halt the declining numbers of council homes.
Since 1994, the number of homes owned by local authorities has more than halved to 1.6 million. Over the same period England’s population has increased by about 7 million people, which makes this a fairly notable societal shift.
Some of the fall in local authority-owned stock can be accounted for by local authorities becoming Large Scale Voluntary Transfer (LSVT) authorities – i.e. transferring their stock and management of their tenants to registered providers. However a substantial driver of this fall has stemmed from the 639,984 council homes sold through the Right to Buy scheme since 1994. (Since the scheme was introduced in 1980, the number is 1,817,528.)
High numbers of Right to Buy sales isn’t necessarily a problem in itself. After all, it means more lower-income families are able to enjoy the security of home ownership. However, because the disposed stock is rarely replaced, the effect is a reduction in the local pool of affordable housing for rent.
Moreover it has been estimated that 38% of properties purchased through Right to Buy are now in the private rental sector – often at considerably higher rental costs compared to social landlords; and often to the exclusion of benefit claimants.
As we outline in our new report, Power Behind The Home, to maintain and expand the provision of housing for lower- and middle-income families, it is imperative that councils are given the powers to halt the decline of council-owned housing.
Firstly, councils should have greater local discretion over the implementation of Right to Buy, with more influence over the terms and conditions of sale.
Secondly, councils should also be afforded greater financial flexibility with which to build more homes themselves. The Housing Revenue Account debt cap should be lifted to better reflect councils’ ability to service debt. And a greater proportion of receipts from Right to Buy sales should be retained locally as well, to allow greater investment in new stock.
At a time when councils are already being asked to promote the supply of Starter Homes in place of affordable housing (as part of section 106 agreements) – and when housing association stock will soon be subject to the Right to Buy – the conservation and provision of council-owned stock becomes all the more important.