We so often hear about the “housing crisis” as if it is a given fact. I was walking with a friend the other day and we were discussing a large housing estate that has had popped up on the horizon. “Well he said,…. we do need more houses – there is a housing crisis after all!” I looked at the group of very smart – no doubt ‘executive’ 4 or 5 bedroom houses and wondered what bit of the housing crisis these were addressing! I doubt it’s the affordable housing crisis for single and older people.
The Chartered Institute of Housing found that 280,000 social rent homes have been sold, converted to higher rents or demolished since April 2012, while just 70,000 new social rent homes have been built*.
I know it must be right and fair to help young people own their own homes as this prevents the rent trap that many are facing, but there still needs to be a proper affordable rental option offering decent, community driven homes, where people who are unable to buy can remain and have a good home in their communities.
It is clear that many affordable homes are sold or partially sold under Right to Buy, which accounted for the loss of 120,000 council homes, but how will we build our stock of decent affordable homes for the future if they continue to be sold?
I believe there is room for a wider variety of almshouses reflecting today’s younger people in housing need, helping them stay and work in their communities. Why almhouses? They are charities run by local trustees for local people in housing need and importantly they are exempt from the Right to Buy. These could provide an accessible option for young families or even intergenerational living. The almshouse model, although over 1,000 years old, has always been adaptable and can provide life changing opportunities to communities across the country,
Let’s tell it how it is … there is a housing crisis but it is very much an affordable housing crisis and no amount of new executive homes on the open market will change that.
Nick Phillips CEO | The Almshouse Association
*Source: Insider Housing publication 29 Mar 21
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Posted 30 Mar 21