Who should social housing be for?

1. Who should social housing be for? Diane Lee Chair Watford Community Housing Trust

2. Who should social housing be for?

3. Who should social housing be for? • Some tenants’ views • people who can’t afford to buy on the open market • people who can’t afford to rent from private landlords • people whose income is low relative to local conditions • people with a particular need for security • the lower your income the more you need stability

4. Who should social housing be for? • What do tenants feel about proposals for housing reform? • “got at” • confused • wary • anxious • they are not the answer to the problem

5. Who should social housing be for? • Proposals for housing reform • Tenancies • Affordable Rent • Allocations • Succession, Mobility, Homelessness • Council Housing Finance

6. Who should social housing be for? • Tenancies • revolving door, takes away the idea of home and community • no incentive to improve your circumstances • having to move if things improve can tip you over into trouble • could affect children’s education and community support networks • even a 25 year tenancy may not be long enough for families

7. Who should social housing be for? • Affordable rent • unaffordable for many in many areas • even people or couples in work could struggle to meet • possibly affordable only to those on benefits? • will cost the Government more in Housing Benefit • could lead to the end of social housing

8. Who should social housing be for? • Allocations • feel more flexibility would be welcome • concentration on most in need unbalances communities • feel there should be more emphasis on local people • lack of input by tenants in development of local policies • tenants minority sector of population with little influence

9. Who should social housing be for? • Succession and Mobility • welcome the change in rules on succession • welcome landlord’s flexibility to grant additional rights • welcome attempts to improve mobility for tenants • but we don’t expect to see large scale movement • and we worry about security of tenure if we move

10. Who should social housing be for? • Homelessness • very worried that homelessness is increasing • it may cause resentment against current tenants • increasing pressure on tenants to move into unsuitable homes • we agree that the private rented sector could offer an option • but only if regulated, of good quality and with sensible leases

11. Who should social housing be for? What can we do to support current and future tenants in their homes and communities to create stable, diverse, vibrant and prosperous places to live?

12. Who should social housing be for? • Creating great places to live • community spirit grows from the ground up • it needs resources to nurture its growth • encouragement and imagination as well as money • long term commitment • a sense of common ownership really helps

13. Who should social housing be for? • Creating great places to live • a massive amount of fabulous work is already being done • but it is easier to destroy a community than to build one • so we need allocations policies and tenancy types which work • tenants need to feel that they have a stake in their community • we need to encourage that sense of belonging

14. Who should social housing be for? • Homes for people • political will to really tackle the housing shortage • just tinkering around the edges isn’t going to fix the problem • and it’s more likely to make things worse • more homes need to be built • imagine the benefits . . . . .

15. Thank you