Norwich Housing Group say planning reform needed to help home builders
Housing charities have long-called-for commitment to build 90,000 social homes a year
Last updated 10th Jun 2024
A Housing association in Norwich is telling us that planning needs to be streamlined and builders supported with rising costs- to help ensure more homes are built.
A coalition of charities and campaigners have called on all political parties to promise they'll build enough social homes to end what's being called 'the housing emergency'.
"If we could get more built the prices would come down and stabilise"
Helen Walsham is deputy chief executive of The Flagship Group:
She told us why there's such an issue with housing, now:
"We are very reliant on the same five or so house-builders and we have seen so many construction companies go to the wall in the past few months. It's like they got through the pandemic by the skin of their teeth"
"If we can build more homes that would then have a positive impact on the prices of house. Supply and demand would say the less properties there are, the more expensive they will be. If we could get more built the prices would come down and stabilise- which would be good for everyone".
The letter in more detail:
It has a range of signatories including Grenfell United, the Health Equals campaign, Health Foundation, and Ikea and it emphasises the positive impact social rent homes can have on those who grow up in them.
Housing charities have long-called-for commitment to build 90,000 social homes a year.
The letter comes as new survey findings from Shelter suggested that almost three quarters (70%) of social tenants said they could not afford to live in their local area were it not for their access to social housing.
A total of 2,041 social renters in England responded to the research, with 412 of those having moved from a privately rented home in the previous 10 years, the charity said.
"Our social housing stock has shrunk by hundreds of thousands"
The letter stated: "The construction of social rent homes has fallen off a cliff. We built over 200,000 social rent homes in 1954, but last year, we delivered just 9,560. In fact, we are seeing a drastic net loss of social rent homes. In the last decade alone, our social housing stock has shrunk by hundreds of thousands.
"The lack of social housing in this country is driving a housing emergency. Across the country, 1.3 million households sit on social housing waiting lists.
"There are over 145,000 children homeless in temporary accommodation, with nowhere to play or do their schoolwork and whole families living in a single room. Meanwhile, a private renter receives a Section 21 'no fault' eviction notice every three minutes."