In a bold initiative aimed at combatting homelessness, Shelter is advocating for the construction of 90,000 rental properties per year over the next decade. According to research conducted by data firm CEBR on behalf of Shelter and the National Housing Federation, this ambitious program is projected to contribute a staggering £51.2 billion to the UK economy, with an additional £12 billion in profits for the taxpayer.
The proposed properties, dedicated to social renting, are positioned by Shelter as the most genuinely affordable housing option, with rents intricately linked to local incomes. The charity asserts that, on average, social rents are approximately 50% cheaper than their private counterparts.
The study indicates that such an annual construction rate would immediately support nearly 140,000 jobs in its inaugural year. Within three years, the broader economic advantages of home construction would break even, returning £37.8 billion to the economy, primarily driven by a surge in the construction industry.
Furthermore, proponents argue that substantial savings could be realized in areas such as housing benefits, Universal Credit, employment taxes, and other related expenditures.
Shelter contends that successive governments have consistently fallen short in the construction of social homes, exacerbated by the depletion caused by Right To Buy sales and demolitions. In the preceding year alone, the UK experienced a net loss of nearly 11,700 social homes, while an astounding 1.3 million households are currently on social housing waiting lists in England.
As the general election looms, Shelter and the National Housing Federation are urging political parties to commit to this transformative housing program. Polly Neate, CEO of Shelter, asserts, “Homelessness is a political choice with a simple solution. Building 90,000 social homes a year will not only end the housing emergency, but, due to the wider economic benefits it brings, it will pay for itself within just three years.”
Neate continues, “Communities are being torn apart as people are priced out of their local areas – leaving behind their jobs, children’s schools, and support networks. A safe and secure social home will give people a place to thrive – improving their health and access to work and education. All political parties must make the choice to end the housing emergency – they must fully commit to building 90,000 new genuinely affordable social rent homes a year for ten years.”
NetRent Comment
It’s certainly an ambitious idea, but just stop and do the maths. 90,000 homes at just £150,000 each is £13.5 billion. Over ten years that’s £135 billion not factoring in inflation. Where’s that money coming from Shelter?
And who would manage these 90,000 rental properties? Certainly not the private rented sector because Shelter make it their lives work to abolish that, because as the article states they are promoting the myth that social rents are 50% cheaper than private rents. So the maths stack up even less.
And what would be the effect on the wider housing market? Recent new builds are running at 212,000 a year, so Shelter are advocating that over 42% of new builds should be for social rents.
We agree with Shelter that there is a housing crises in the UK but we disagree that this suggestion goes anywhere close to offering an answer to that crises. This isn’t blue-sky thinking it’s pie-in-the the-sky thinking and shows a remarkable detachment from reality that they think it has any merit whatsoever.
Shelter are recommending that we build a town the size of Bath or Lincoln full of social housing every year for 10 years. That’s a city TWICE the size of a Sheffield, Liverpool or Bristol in just 10 years – all solely full of social housing. Just stop and think of the implications of that, because it doesn’t feel like Shelter have thought about it at all.