Cross-party push launched to secure future of council housing

A number of Midlands councils are joining a cross-party coalition of more than 100 council landlords, to publish five solutions for the government to ‘secure the future of England’s council housing’.

Led by Southwark Council, the coalition will launch the Future Council Housing report to urge the government to deliver its housing promises and fix the council housing system at an event held in Westminster today (Sep 3).

Birmingham City Council, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, Leicester City Council, Nottingham City Council, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and the City of Wolverhampton Council joined 16 other councils to publish an interim summary of their recommendations in July.

An urgent meeting was then held with the Deputy Prime Minister and another 80 councils backed their recommendations and signed the final report.

The five recommendations to the new government:

• A new fair and sustainable HRA model – including an urgent £644m one-off rescue injection, and long-term, certain rent and debt agreements.
• Reforms to unsustainable Right to Buy policies
• Removing red tape on existing funding
• A new, long-term Green & Decent Homes Programme
• Urgent action to restart stalled building projects, avoiding the loss of construction sector capacity and a market downturn

The detailed report, led by Southwark Council has contributions from housing policy experts Toby Lloyd and Rose Grayston. It sets out a full roadmap to renew the country’s council housing over the next decade and critical policy changes for the realisation of the new government’s social housing ambitions.

National policy changes and an “unsustainable” financial model have squeezed council housing budgets and increased costs. A new analysis from Savills shows that they will face a £2.2bn ‘black hole’ by 2028.

The coalition is warning that unless action is taken, most council landlords will be unable to maintain their existing homes, or meet demands to improve them and will have no option but to sell stock.

Councillor Shiraz Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing, Property and Regulatory Services at Derby City Council, said: “As an administration, our priorities are built around providing the services and support our citizens need to get on in life.

“A safe and affordable home is something everyone should have access to, and so many in our city rely on council housing for this.

“The sector is under immense pressure, but these recommendations offer a brighter future for council housing here in Derby. I hope the new government take them on board and invest in council housing so that this vital sector can continue playing it’s vital role in our city.”