Sector leaders seek £24bn to fight homelessness and build new homes

A coalition of housing leaders has called for a £24bn injection into supported housing, homelessness and new homes in next year’s comprehensive spending review.

The joint submission by the Local Government Association and National Housing Federation, among others, said the investment was needed to build stronger communities and reverse decades of under investment.

It proposed increasing annual Supporting People funding to £2bn over the course of the review – from 2008 to 2011 – to put the programme on a secure financial footing and cover increasing costs. Investment in the programme has fallen from £1.8bn in 2003 to £1.68bn this year.

And it called for annual funding in homelessness prevention to rise  to £110m by 2011, from the current level of £60m.

The extra funding would give each local authority £190,000 more over three years to set up a new prevention project, such as a “crash pad” for youngsters at risk of homelessness due to parental disputes.

It called for an extra £120m over the three years to support a national roll-out of intervention projects to help tackle anti-social behaviour.

Most of the money, £11.6bn, would be for 210,000 new affordable homes to help shift the backlog of 94,000 households in temporary accommodation and 1.5 million on social housing waiting lists.

David Butler, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, which contributed to the submission, said a failure to make the necessary investment would undermine attempts to improve health, education and community cohesion.

Social care has not yet made a similar overarching submission. In July the institute’s president, Janet Hale, said it was inevitable that housing and social care would be competing for resources in the review.

● Comprehensive Spending Review 2008-11 Submission 

Key cash demands 2008-11
● New affordable housing £11.6bn
● Supporting People £5.7bn
● Bringing social housing up to decent standard £3.2bn
● Preventing homelessness £290m
● Traveller provision £150m

Contact the author
 Simeon Brody