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POLICY AND POLITICS

Social housing waiting lists will take more than 100 years to clear

England’s social housing waiting lists will take 119 years to clear at the current pace of housebuilding, according to research by charity Shelter.

(c) Norbert Levajsics/Unsplash

(c) Norbert Levajsics/Unsplash

England's social housing waiting lists will take 119 years to clear at the current pace of housebuilding, according to research by charity Shelter.

Despite more than 1.3 million households awaiting social housing, only 12,198 social rent homes were delivered across England last year – meaning around 110 households were competing for every home built.

The charity also found that in 30% of council areas (89) fewer than 10 social homes were delivered in the last two years, and in 60 of those 89 areas not a single social home was built.

Shelter argued a major barrier was £29bn of historic housing debt passed to councils by central government in 2012, which it said was crippling councils' ability to build. 

The charity called for this debt to be wiped from council balance sheets.

According to the charity's research, social home delivery has fallen by 64% over the past 15 years, while the number of households in temporary accommodation has more than doubled.

 

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