Long-term delivery of social and affordable rented housing inquiry

The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has launched a new inquiry to examine the long-term delivery of social and affordable rented housing. The Government has set a target of delivering 300,000 new homes per year by mid-2020. However, current expectations mean that as little as 3% of this target could be social homes built by local authorities. Housing charity Shelter has warned that over 3 million new social home would need to be built over a 20 year period to address social housing need. Amounting to 150,000 new social homes per year this is significantly higher than the Government’s current plans. The new inquiry will investigate the effectiveness of the Government’s current strategies to boost social and affordable rented housing provision. This will include the adequacy of funding levels, as well as programmes and incentives for key stakeholders, such as local authorities and housing associations, to stimulate delivery. The Committee will also look at the challenges facing different areas of the country and consider what lessons can be learnt from successful schemes in other countries.