A new vision for housing

Increasing the number of homeowners and opportunities for social housing tenants to get into work are at the heart of the new vision for housing unveiled by London Councils. Emma Stewart reports

House prices in the capital are now, on average, nine times the average London income and one in 10 households is on a council waiting list for social housing.

So what roles do the council, housing association and private housing sectors have to play?

Often the answer reflects political views but through London Councils the capital’s boroughs have taken a cross-party approach.

The capital’s housing profile is significantly different to elsewhere.

Only 57 per cent of Londoners own their own home, compared with 70 per cent in the UK as a whole.

For low and middle income families, shared ownership - where people buy a proportion of their home and pay rent on the outstanding proportion – is one way to move up the housing ladder.

Among the proposals outlined in the vision are plans to explore the potential of offering '50-50 rent-free’ shared ownership for families in high value areas.

London Councils will also examine ways in which the massive contribution made by Stamp Duty to the Treasury’s coffers can be recycled to boroughs to produce affordable housing and infrastructure improvements.

Linked to increasing affordability is the vision’s second goal to “develop mixed communities of which social housing is a part”.

This involves creating more opportunities for social housing tenants tomove up the housing ladder into part or full homeownership.

It also involves lobbying the government to persuade it that new housing subsidy arrangements, that would see boroughs able to keep the income and capital returns from new homes they build, are viable.

A barrier to mobility between the social housing sector and part or full ownership is the high level of worklessness among council and housing association tenants.

Around half of people of working age in social housing are ‘workless’ (unemployed or economically inactive) compared with 7 per cent of homeowners.

The reasons are manifold but a significant part is played by the way that housing benefit tapers off once an individual is in work.

The third goal is to tackle homelessness more effectively.

In the capital, councils have done particularly well in preventing homelessness but London Councils is calling for a greater emphasis on support that is tailored to meet the needs of people broadly termed ‘vulnerable’.

The shortage of social housing means that councils have placed many households in homes rented from private landlords. These homes are good quality and are often leased upwards of 10 years.

But, as far as the government is concerned, these households are only housed temporarily.

In light of the quality and the stability of tenure offered by such properties, London Councils will be calling for the definition of ‘temporary’ to be reviewed.

The relationship between the private andsocial housing sectors balances opportunities to climb the property ladder with a safety net for the most vulnerable.

But with London’s population predicted to increase by nearly three quarters of a million in the next 20 years, that relationship will be put under increasing pressure.

You can read Our vision for housing in London at www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/housingvision