Recommendation 3

We are concerned that the number of homes being built for social rent is not enough to meet demand. There is huge demand for social rent homes which is the only real, affordable option for many people. Despite this, the Department has a target for just 33,550 homes for social rent under the 2021 programme. The Department has shown that homes built for social rent provide higher value for money than those built for ownership, but decisions around tenure are policy decisions made by ministers. The Department notes that building more homes for social rent within the existing funding envelope would lead to fewer homes overall. The Department is consulting on capping the increase in rent that housing providers can charge, which risks reducing the number of new homes built for rent in future. Recommendation: The Department should assess how much demand there is for social rent and set out how it will use the Programme to better meet this.