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A glimpse into the heart of housing’s twilight zone

The way we allocate social housing is a mess that means people who need it most are being turned away because it is unaffordable. It points to a broken system that has to change, writes Martin Hilditch

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The way social housing is allocated is like something from The Twilight Zone and it must change, writes Martin Hilditch #ukhousing

Family homes standing empty despite demonstrable housing need? Choice-based systems in name only? Welcome to the nightmare stories of our allocation systems #ukhousing

Councils and housing associations need to put their differences to one side if we are to stop housing allocations systems failing people on low incomes #ukhousing

It’s difficult not to feel profoundly depressed after reading the new report out this week about the way social homes are allocated in England.

The Rethinking Allocations report, from the Chartered Institute of Housing, details the broken system that has emerged after decades of disjointed housing policy – and, let’s be honest, a similarly disjointed working relationship between local authorities and housing associations in many areas.

A toxic mix of factors, including benefit reforms, a lack of investment in social housing and the inability of partners to reach agreement at a local level, has meant that people who need homes the most are being turned away from low-cost housing. The laudable (and important) aim of making sure that tenancies are sustainable for people applying for housing is shutting some people out completely. As the report states, we are now in a “perverse situation where the reasons why people may need access to social homes the most can often become the barriers to accessing them”.

Welcome to the twilight zone! What a nightmare it must be for anyone trying to navigate the system for the first time.


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Social housing allocations failing those in greatest need, warns CIHSocial housing allocations failing those in greatest need, warns CIH

The mess is huge and varies across the country. In fact, such is the scale of the problem, there are individual issues worthy of research papers in their own right that get rolled into the mix. Heard the one about the family-sized homes standing empty despite there being a demonstrable housing need in some areas? What about the individuals on low incomes who are unable to afford rents higher than social housing but are not prioritised because they don’t have support needs? Or systems that are choice-based in name only?

Then there’s Right to Buy reducing the number of options available, too (a policy that has its own curious stories – as our research demonstrates this week, with the news that one in seven homes sold since discounts were increased were to individuals receiving housing benefit).

Of course, truth be told, people who live and work in the sector know about these problems already. To date, though, we’re a long way from finding solutions that work for people who need to access social housing in the first place. So what are the answers?

The paper has a range of suggestions. For the government they include investment in social housing, removing the reduced benefit cap and bedroom tax and allowing councils to retain receipts from Right to Buy sales. Councils and housing associations are told (reading between the lines) that they should be making greater efforts to work in partnership to strengthen nomination agreements when there appear to be competing objectives. Processes should be rejigged so that they help support people into sustainable tenancies rather than informing decisions simply about whether or not to allocate a tenancy in the first place. Clearly, there is a need for people to look at themselves here as well as the government.

The report does point people in the direction of some good practice. But good practice is much too limited as things stand. Are your processes preventing people who need social housing from accessing it? Could you build stronger relationships with partner housing associations or councils? It’s time for everyone to take a long, hard look at what more they can do to deliver their social objectives.

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