Matthew Pennycook has written to the Chair of Homes England, the body which hands out government grant for housing. Amongst other things he has called for it “to take steps to ensure that the Agency is maximising the number of social rent homes delivered through the allocation of remaining Affordable Homes Programme funding and that you support plans for a future programme.” However, there is no indication in the letter as to what proportion of grant should go towards social rent, as compared to “affordable rent” and various forms of “affordable home ownership”.
Whilst we are in favour of maximising the number of social rent homes – we think all the grant should go towards them – the housing crisis cannot be addressed if the government sticks to the current parsimonious level of the Tories AHP.
Currently, only around 15% of the AHP grant goes to social rent homes. In the first three years of the AHP only 11,184 social rent homes (in England, excluding London) have been funded by Homes England, as compared to 33,316 “affordable rent” and 28,438 “affordable home ownership” (see Appendix below). Take into account the market homes associated with Homes England programmes, providing ‘cross-subsidy’ and the proportion of social rent homes is only 10.75%.
The numbers in temporary accommodation continue to rise. In March of this years there were more than 117,000 households in temporary accommodation. One fifth of those have been in it for more than 5 years! Meanwhile there are more than 1.3 million households on waiting lists. Without a big increase in council housing stock these numbers will not decrease.
The government cannot control what the market does. It can determine what it does. Funding for the 90,000+ social rent homes a year that Shelter and others are calling for is the only realistic means of beginning to provide homes for those trapped in temporary accommodation and in the private rented sector.
We have been told that news of the government’s programme beyond 2026 when the Tories AHP finishes, will not be announced until next year in a likely Spring review. Between now and then we need to amplify the message that the government’s first housing priority should be social rent homes, providing the funding necessary to deliver the step-change required and ending the disastrous Right to Buy policy.
Email Angela Rayner and Matthew Pennycook to tell them so, c/o http://www.gov.uk/mhclg
Download a PDF to see the Appendix
Labour Campaign for Council Housing 
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