TV show has shamed us all
Anyone working in the housing sector who has seen the TV show Tower Block of Commons in which MPs living in social housing, cannot watch with comfort. Some of the homes are a disgrace, but why do we accept this standard and how come we have an inspection regime that can grant three stars to one of the landlords?
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There are good and bad landlords everywhere but statistics show that the worst housing is within the government-owned stock. Poor management and underfunding contribute significantly to this but the biggest issue is lack of ownership of the problem. The funding of local government, the standards and the inspection regime reinforce this.
The housing revenue account needs to be changed to a simple business model, like the one housing associations have. The existing system is a ‘cap in hand model’ divorced from income, expenditure and stock condition. The inspection system that gives two or three stars to landlords that haven’t maintained their stock over the past 30 years is perverse. It allows both central and local government to avoid responsibility and lets down residents.
HRA and inspection reviews are now under way but the new systems will fail residents if they are mere revisions of the existing regimes. They will only succeed if they enable us to sweep away the excuses for poor housing conditions in the UK.
Brendan Sarsfield, CEO, Family Mosaic