News analysis The distant dream
We were once again reminded of the housing secretary’s view of homeless people last month, as Robert Jenrick said that homelessness is mostly caused by substance misuse. Not affordability of homes, the perilous nature of private renting or relationship breakdowns… substance misuse. It isn’t the first time he’s made remarks such as these, last year calling homelessness “more of a crisis of addiction and mental health than it is about housing”. That’s not to say, of course, that substance misuse doesn’t take place among the homeless community, as it does in most other strands of society, but to use it as a leading cause is disingenuous at best. But it should come as no surprise from a housing secretary who seemingly dismissed concerns of leaseholders and tenants trapped in flats that could go up in flames at any point, just because fires don’t happen often. Or from a housing secretary that, lest we forget, fast tracked through planning permission for his mate to save him £40m, taking that very same money away from communities that could have benefited greatly. Language matters.
Once again, we have seen a Budget with absolutely no new money for social housing. At a time when recovering from the pandemic is apparently the number one goal, the government has decided not to invest in a large scale council housebuilding programme. Jobs, greater security, less burden on the housing benefit bill. These are just a few of the numerous benefits of social housing. So how far does social housing have to sink before the Conservatives take action? Keir Starmer, the Labour Leader, said in response to the Budget: “If the government was really interested in tackling the broken housing market, it would have announced a new generation of genuinely affordable council homes. Instead, we have 230,000 council homes lost since 2010.” And he’s completely right. The number of social homes continues to fall and despite the best attempts by some local authorities to reverse some of the
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Fearful of the incoming wave The country has been bracing for the end of the furlough scheme and the impact that it’s going to have on unemployment and Universal Credit claims. The evictions ban is also ending, which could see a huge spike in homelessness. A report by Peabody did nothing to dampen those fears. In a survey of 2,000 of their
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HOUSING QUALITY MAGAZINE MARCH 2021
impacts of Right to Buy, it’s simply not working. If Sunak wants to create numerous jobs, bolster the supply chain and allow people to get off Universal Credit, he’d be better off rethinking his housing plans – because 95% mortgages and crippling debt for young people is not a sustainable model to achieve that. And with the Office for Budget Responsibility saying that the housing measures will only increase house prices, it seems the hope for new social housing remains a distant dream.
residents, Peabody found that 58% had either lost their job, been furloughed or were working less hours; 20% had taken out loans or used credit cards for essentials; and 25% said they were in a “desperate financial situation”. Housing providers have done an incredible job during the pandemic, but the hard work is only just beginning.
Picture by Harriet Pavey/ No 10 Downing Street
The importance of language
