Swindon joins local authorities across England in 'call to save council homes'
The group's calling it an 'unprecedented' call to secure the future of England's housing provision, operated by councils
From today - Swindon Borough Council is joining 100 local authorities in their call to 'save council homes' in the Borough and across the country.
They're calling it an 'unprecedented' call to secure the future of England's housing provision, as more than 4,200 people in Swindon are on the housing waiting list alone.
The local authorities warn that England’s council housing system is broken and that urgent action is needed for the Government to deliver its housing promises.
Earlier this year, the new Labour Government committed to reverse the continued decline in the number of social rent homes.
You can find out more about Government housing targets here.
It comes as back in July, 20 of the largest council landlords published an interim summary of their recommendations, which later led to 80 more councils backing their recommendations and signing the final report - which sets out how council housing should be fixed over the next decade.
It explains how an unsustainable financial model and erratic national policy changes have squeezed councils’ housing budgets and sent costs soaring. New analysis from Savills shows they will face a £2.2bn ‘black hole’ by 2028.
Recommendations in this new report include urgent action to restore lost income and unlock local authority capacity to work with the new government to deliver its promises for new, affordable homes throughout the country.
The five solutions set out detailed and practical 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
Councillor Janine Howarth, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “We were only too happy to support this national campaign because we need the Government’s support if we are to reform council housing and provide the funding councils need.
“Here in Swindon we have 4,230 people on our housing waiting list, a backlog of repairs and we are facing a big challenge in ensuring our homes are energy efficient and meet modern standards.
“Something needs to change and the five solutions set out in the future of council housing report will go some way to putting us on the right path to deliver affordable and green homes for people in Swindon in line with our own and the new government’s ambitions.”
Councillor Kieron Williams, Leader of Southwark Council, said: “This unprecedented coalition of councils – representing every corner of England - is united in our determination to ensure our residents have decent and affordable homes. For families across our country their council home is a foundation - giving them the security needed to put down roots and flourish.
“Our new government has committed to delivering the biggest increase to affordable and social housing in a generation. The Deputy Prime Minister’s recent announcements demonstrate that they know the critical role councils will play in reaching this ambition. However, the reality is that our national council housing finances are on the brink.
“Our five solutions offer the new government an opportunity to turn this around - lifting the council homes we have up to modern, safe, healthy and green standards, and delivering the thousands more council homes that our country urgently needs. By investing in them together, we can transform lives for the better for generations to come.”