Swindon social housing has 'bleak outlook' without major action
Swindon Borough Council is calling for huge Government investment
We've been told that more and more people in Swindon are getting stuck in the renting cycle amid a lack of affordable housing.
Swindon Borough Council has joined over 100 other authorities in sending a letter to the Government, calling for investment of close to £650m to 'save social housing'.
As waiting lists for council homes in the town grow on a daily basis, we've been finding out more about the situation.
Cllr Janine Howarth, cabinet member for housing, said it's vital that social housing is saved as it's the most effective method of providing affordable homes.
She said: "Despite where people say that builders are building affordable housing, it's only 20% below the market value, so it's not really that affordable.
"People are finding themselves more and more living at home until they're 35-40 years old because they just cannot afford the deposit or be able to, you know, if they get into the rent cycle then they can't get out of the rent cycle and rents are going up and up and up as we speak."
There are around 10,400 homes in the council's stock, which are all full, with over 4,000 people on a growing waiting list.
"That is growing daily because also due to the section 21 eviction notices, people are finding themselves being evicted on a regular basis in order that landlords can increase rents or sell the property," Cllr Howarth said.
The new Government has committed to ending section 21 notices, but has yet to say when that will happen.
Tackling an 'aging and decaying' housing stock
In 2012, Swindon Borough Council took on a £150m debt when tenants voted to remain as council tenants rather than become a housing association.
The debt is from the 1940s and 50s where the Government had paid for the social housing in Swindon to be built.
The council is paying off that debt at £8m per year, plus interest rats - which is funded by council tenants rent.
But Cllr Howarth told us there are other, more recent issues: "We've seen since Brexit, escalating costs with building materials. So to actually sustain the houses that we've got is costing more in repairs than it did before.
"We've also found difficulty since COVID with getting builders and people like that to be able to do things for us, like putting new bathrooms to keep the decent standards up."
This is putting pressure on the council a new regulation, which came into action in April 2024, will see the authority inspected every four years to ensure they're hitting customer standards for tenants.
But with an aging and decaying stock of housing, the outlook is bleak without changes to fix a 'broken' system.
Cllr Howarth highlighted issues in the Railway Village.
"It's still single glazed units and of course with that being a listed building, we've got to be careful what we put in and what we don't put in.
"We've got to replace those windows somehow because they're just not energy efficient. So, you know, we will see our stock decay and we will see our stock costing more and we will see that we won't be able to maintain it as we should and therefore the regulator can fine us."
There's concerns that this will continue feeding the cost of living crisis, with levels of poverty in Swindon increasing.
"We don't want to see that," Cllr Howarth said, adding: "As a Council, we want to see people rise up and be able to have good, decent homes.
"It's a very foundation of everything that comes from it, your health, how you feel about yourself, your mental well-being, everything stems from a home. So we want to see good, decent homes for people in Swindon."