Report Fires Warning To Government over Social Housing Plans

Government plans to allow housing associations to charge new social tenants higher rents and offer fixed-term tenancies (minimum two years) will not tackle the needs of vulnerable people as well as the traditional social housing model would, a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has concluded. In its report, 'Tackling housing market volatility in the UK', it concludes that unsustainable house price booms are more likely to develop if there is an underlying shortage of housing. New supply, it says, is crucial to reducing house price volatility. However, it said within current subsidy levels, additional social and other affordable housing is likely to play only a "limited role" in creating new housing supply; and that current policy plans for the sector would not tackle the needs of the vulnerable. The report said: "The near-market rents in this housing, and the introduction of tenancies as short as two years, suggest that this new programme structure will not tackle the needs of vulnerable people as well as the traditional social housing model would." Download a copy of the report from the JRF website.