The 20 biggest local authority landlords are calling for a new government to save council homes

LEICESTER City Council has joined England’s other biggest landlord councils – including Southwark, Bristol, Sheffield, Leeds, Birmingham and Dudley – to jointly publish five solutions for the new government to “secure the future of council housing in England”.

In March, the heads of this cross-party group of 20 local authorities met for a summit to tackle an increasingly urgent financial crisis. Ahead of the release of their full report later this year, written by Toby Lloyd and Rose Grayston, an interim version summarizes their recommendations.

The report warns that England’s council housing system is broken and its future is at risk. An unsustainable financial model and erratic changes in national policy have squeezed their budgets and sent costs skyrocketing. New analysis from Savills shows that councils’ housing budgets will face a £2.2bn “black hole” by 2028.

Unless something is done soon, it is reported that most council landlords will struggle to adequately maintain their existing homes or meet the huge new demands to improve them, let alone build new homes for social rent. Across the country, development projects are being canceled and delayed, with huge implications for the local construction sector, jobs and the housing market.

Rather than increasing supply, the reality is that some councils will have no choice but to sell more of their existing stock to fund investment in an ever-shrinking portfolio of council houses.

Their recommendations include urgent action to restore lost revenue and unlock the ability of local authorities to work with the new government to deliver on its promises for new, affordable homes across the country.

The five solutions set out detailed and practical recommendations to the new government:

1. A fair and sustainable new HRA model – including an emergency bailout of £644m and certain leases and long-term debt.
2. Reforms of unsustainable Right to Buy policies
3. Removing red tape on existing funding
4. A new long-term program for Green and Decent Homes
5. Urgent action to restart stalled construction projects, avoiding a loss of construction sector capacity and a market downturn

They are drawing up a plan for a ‘decade of renewal’, with local authorities and central government working together to restore ‘Housing Income Accounts’ (HRAs) to stable foundations, to bring all homes up to modern and green standards and to deliver the following. generation of council houses.

Deputy Mayor and Chief Executive for Housing in Leicester, Cllr Elly Cutkelvin said: “In Leicester, we have already taken the unprecedented step of declaring a housing crisis, recognizing the growing and desperate need for decent, affordable housing.

“As one of the largest council landlords – with almost 20,000 homes on our book – we are keenly aware of the vital need for stability and an urgent review of how council housing is funded so that we can invest in future, protecting our existing homes. stock and building more affordable homes.

“The loss of council homes to Right to Buy, the cost of maintaining aging housing stock, restrictive debt and tenancy agreements and an increasingly unstable and unsustainable funding model means councils are unable to meet the growing need of affordable housing, throwing out many more people. further into the financial crisis.

“This joint report is an important reminder of the value of council homes and the crisis councils face as landlords. It is also a call to the new government to help secure the future of our council homes for generations.”

Southwark Council invited all local authorities with around 19,000 council homes or more to jointly produce a report to be published in September. These council owners came together in response to their urgent financial challenges and to set out the national policy changes needed to secure their future.

Councilor Kieron Williams, leader of Southwark Council, said: “Our country’s biggest council landlords have come together because we see every day how council homes transform lives for the better. For families across our country, their council home is a foundation – giving them the security they need to put down roots, flourish in childhood, thrive at work, stay healthy and age well.

However, the erratic political choices of our last government have left the council’s housing finances completely destroyed and the future of the system is in jeopardy. Councils are being forced to cancel new builds and even sell council homes to focus on keeping existing residents safe.

We’re publishing this interim report now, from England’s biggest council landlords, because we want to work with the new government from day one to deliver more and better council homes that our communities need. With a growing number of council landlords on the brink, urgent action is needed to put national housing council finances back on a solid footing. Our five solutions set out how we can work together to achieve this.”

The 20 local authority owners who are jointly publishing this report are:

1. Southwark Council
2. Birmingham City Council
3. Bristol City Council
4. Camden Council
5. Dudley Metropolitan District Council
6. Royal Borough of Greenwich
7. Hull City Council
8. Islington Council
9. Hackney Council
10. Kirklees Metropolitan District Council
11. Lambeth Council
12. Lewisham Council
13. Wolverhampton City Council
14. Nottingham City Council
15. Leicester City Council
16. Newcastle City Council
17. Rotherham Metropolitan District Council
18. Leeds City Council
19. Sandwell Council
20. Sheffield City Council