Council House Replacements

Roughly one in six council homes which are sold off under Right to Buy are replaced. But does this mean that there are fewer council houses available?  The number of council properties available for social rent in England has been falling in the last few years. In 2014/15, there were 1,635,000. That’s 28,000 less than in 2013/14 when there were 1,663,000 available. That's not the whole story. Councils nowadays own a much smaller proportion of the country's social rented housing stock compared to what they once did. Housing associations are the biggest provider of houses for social rent. So to understand the complete picture these need to be considered too. Read more on the Full Fact website.

Home Ownership: The Lowest In A Generation?

63% of English households own the home they live in. The last time the proportion was lower than this was in 1984, according to government statistics. The rest rent privately (19%) or from a social housing provider like a council or housing association (17%). The number of owner-occupiers has fallen every year since peaking in 2005. The English Housing Survey notes that trends in home ownership have changed “radically” over the past century. Most households seem to have rented until the early 1970s. Since then, home ownership has become the norm, but peaked in 2003 when almost 71% of households owned their property. Young people in particular are increasingly unlikely to own a home. Read more on the Full Fact website.

A Brief Introduction to Housing Issues

·         UK house prices have more than trebled in the past 20 years (ONS basis)

·         Fewer under-25s are buying homes, while houses are more expensive for  first-time buyers relative to their incomes

·         Social housing waiting lists have risen, and rents are becoming more  expensive

·         Housebuilding is at its lowest peacetime position since the 1920s in  England and Wales

·         The UK still compares well internationally on overcrowding and unaffordability

Read more on the Full Fact website.

How Many Families Are Claiming £100,000 Per Year In Housing Benefit?

"Sadly this is the system we have inherited. A system that allowed some families who were living in areas with incredibly high rents, to claim over £100,000 a year in housing costs." Lord Freud, Welfare Reform Minister, 31 October 2012

Full Fact first came across this claim nearly two years ago, while we found that the average claim - at around £85 per week - was some way below the figures being used by Ministers.  We've had a response to a Freedom of Information request, and it is clear from what we've unearthed that the extremely large claims highlighted in the media are also extremely rare.  Figures show that over four out of every five Housing Benefit claims are below £100 per week according to the September 2010 figures, while only 70 out of over 4.5 million recipients claimed over £1000 per week, around 0.001% of the total.  Even this is likely to overstate the number claiming £100,000 per year however, as a family would need to claim over £1,900 per week to hit this total. Previous FoI responses from the Department have suggested around five families benefited by this amount.  Read more on the Full Fact website.