The roll-out of five-year local housing deals by 2025 would lead to 200,000 additional social homes being built over the span of 30 years, a new report by the Local Government Association says today.
The roll-out of five-year local housing deals by 2025 would lead to 200,000 additional social homes being built over the span of 30 years, a new report by the Local Government Association says today.
The LGA’s Local Government White Paper calls on the government to commit to the local deals, which would combine funding from multiple national housing programmes into a single pot.
The report, from Pragmatix, finds that a system that allows local management and greater consistency of housing funding is key to delivering the social homes our country greatly needs and could lead to a 21 per cent increase in social housebuilding.
Moving towards one single long-term fund could help improve the delivery of housing by prioritising a strategic approach over short-term thinking and help to avoid the boom-and-bust cycles of housebuilding.
Delivery of more social rented homes through five-year regimes would also deliver benefits such as:
- Reduced government spending: with reduced need for emergency assistance, lower housing benefit payments and decreased expenditure on homelessness services.
- Tax benefits from construction: the construction of homes for social rent would yield higher tax revenues due to increased economic activity in the construction sector.
- Lower spending on temporary accommodation provision: spending on temporary accommodation and homelessness support would decrease, resulting in long-term savings of £4.5 billion for local authorities over 30 years.
The findings suggest a programme of consecutive minimum five-year housing regimes is estimated to deliver net socioeconomic benefits worth £31 billion in today’s prices over 30 years.
Cllr Claire Holland, Housing spokesperson for the LGA said:
“Over the last 30 years, growth in the housing stock has stagnated and the number of housing completions is failing to keep up with demand. The only way to solve this country’s housing crisis is by giving councils the powers and resources to build more of the genuinely affordable homes our communities desperately need.
“Councils know their areas best and need the autonomy and funding certainty to be able to deliver long-term plans for housebuilding in their local areas.
“Five-year local housing deals are crucial to give local areas the powers to build more affordable, good quality homes at scale, quickly, where they are needed.”
Notes to editors
- The LGA’s Local Government White Paper sets out how a reset relationship between central and local government is the only way government can tackle the challenges facing the country. It includes analysis showing councils in England face a funding gap of £6.2 billion over the next two years.