Surge In Council Homes That Are Unsafe Or Need Repairs

More than 40 per cent of council homes in one part of England are not fit to live in. The latest government figures reveal that at least 76,814 properties owned by councils in England failed to meet the Decent Homes Standard at the end of March 2020. A “non-decent” home is one which fails to meet the statutory safety standards, is not warm enough, is run down or has facilities which are too old. Typically this means they have problems with damp, mould or faulty heating, which can have a significant impact on tenants' physical and mental health. Read more on the Daily Mirror website.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-tens/surge-council-homes-unsafe-need-23491144

Thousands More Homes Pledged By Councils Under May’s New Rules

Sixty local authority leaders have pledged an immediate drive to build thousands more council homes by exploiting new rules announced by Theresa May. Dozens of councils across the country, led by both Labour and the Tories, have signed an open letter vowing to use new powers to borrow more money to build a new generation of properties. It has led to hopes of the biggest council house-building programme since the 1970s. However, it leaves Philip Hammond with a major headache ahead of his budget later this month. The extra borrowing could add £1bn to the deficit and further constrain his room for manoeuvre, as he already needs to find money to fund the NHS. Read more on the Observer website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/21/councils-pledge-to-exploit-end-to-borrowing-cap-to-build-homes

Council Homes Sold Off Almost Three Times As Fast As New Ones Are Built

Council homes are being sold off almost three times faster than local authorities can replace them, new analysis has revealed, with some local authorities selling 20 times the number of homes that were built in three years. Analysis of figures from 72 councils who responded to freedom of information requests found the mass selloff has raised more than £930m from the sale of more than 12,000 council houses since 2014. In those boroughs, just 4,309 houses were built in the same time. Read more on the Guardian website.

Less Than Half Of Right To Buy Replacements Are For Social Rent

Less than half of the council homes built to replace those sold under the Right to Buy are at social rents. Since 2012, councils have been allowed to keep a portion of the receipt from a Right to Buy home to build a replacement, with a total of 10,644 started so far against 51,352 sales. But Freedom of Information Act responses from 111 councils – 75% of those building replacements – showed only 48% (3,962) of the 8,109 new homes they had started were at social rents. Read more on Inside Housing.