Committee calls for £10bn a year social housing fund

A cross-party group of MPs has called on the government to boost social rented housing by an extra 90,000 homes a year with a £10bn annual grant. The housing, communities and local government select committee estimates the additional homes would cost some £12.8bn in grant funding every year. It said housing association cross-subsidy funding models are not meeting current demand and the removal of the local authority Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap will contribute just a small uplift. The most recent figures from MHCLG last year reported 6,287 social-rented homes, down 6% on the previous year, as development focused on higher priced tenures including affordable rent and shared ownership. Currently, the bulk of social-rented housing comes from developer section 106 contributions, which accounted for 56% of new homes last year, while grant funding has been focused primarily on shared ownership housing. The committee said “a social housebuilding programme” should be “top of the government’s agenda to rebuild the country from the impact of Covid-19”. It said land value reform could reduce the cost of the proposed programme by up to 40%, with further savings by building on public land. The committee’s report has asked the department to publish net housing targets by tenure and explain the contribution of social housing to the government’s 300,000 homes a year target. It added that the government has not yet examined the effect that the First Homes initiative could have on social housing, following claims that up to 80% of section 106 contribution could be redirected to the new tenure. To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @estatesgazette