The Week in Housing: financial crisis in homelessness provision and supported housing leaves services facing collapse

Then if you add 15 years of austerity and a 14-year freeze on the amount councils can claim back from the government to meet their temporary accommodation costs, it is no wonder a London councillor gave evidence in parliament on boroughs’ spending on tackling homelessness while holding up a “chart of doom”.

Grace Williams, deputy chair and executive member for housing and regeneration at London Councils, was trying to ram home the point that a £330m overspend on homelessness services is the “single biggest risk” to boroughs’ finances and is pushing town halls towards bankruptcy.

The picture is not much brighter in Scotland, where one council is considering the closure of up to one-third of its sheltered housing schemes as it looks to plug a funding gap in the loss-making service.

This is part of the reason why a social housing commission told Inside Housing exclusively this week that the restoration of the pre-2010 grant regime is needed, and called for the government to provide a “generous” rent settlement and long-term funding for social housing providers.

Finding good-quality temporary accommodation is a huge issue across the UK. But there was a £235m deal struck between a London council and a housing association that seems to be a win-win for all involved. The association raised cash by selling stock that needed energy performance upgrades, and the council acquired hundreds of homes for use as temporary accommodation after these have been retrofitted.

Maintaining and improving stock is crucial for residents’ well-being, and a report demonstrated that tackling damp and mould in Southwark Council’s housing stock could save the NHS £1.8m.

The Housing Ombudsman also highlighted seven social landlords’ poor communication with residents ahead of the implementation of Awaab’s Law.

Poor-quality housing is such an issue that more than one-fifth (21%) of social workers have removed a child or children from their family’s home in the past three years where unsafe or inappropriate housing conditions was a key contributing factor.

This worrying statistic comes as surveyors, speaking under the condition of anonymity, raised concerns about the quality and reliability of expert witness evidence in disrepair claims.

Inside Housing published an investigation into the “disastrous” military housing deal in which the Ministry of Defence agreed to buy back thousands of military homes last year from the private equity-backed firm it sold them to in 1996.

Since then, Natalie Elphicke Ross, a housing expert and former MP for Dover, has been appointed chair of a team tasked with developing the government’s defence housing strategy.

Some of our most-read stories of the week involved a contractor collapse, a housing association’s first tenancy fraud prosecution, and a “breach of duty” by an insurance broker.

A large housing association lost more than £36m as a result of Henley Construct going into administration in 2023.

A former L&Q resident was found guilty of tenancy fraud after he illegally sublet his home and gave false details in a Right to Acquire application.

And a High Court judge found an insurance broker liable for the data breach that deprived another London association of up to £5m in potential indemnity.

With for-profit housing providers entering the affordable housing space in a big way, Inside Housing looked into who the biggest players are, who is backing them and what strategies they are taking.

Another for-profit provider, owned by a Birmingham developer, has entered the sector after it completed its registration with the Regulator of Social Housing. 

At the same time, for-profit Sparrow Shared Ownership recruited the chief executive of Tower Hamlets Community Housing as managing director.

There was also big appointment news as housing charity Shelter appointed a new chief executive from a national voluntary membership organisation.

Plus, some relatively good news on building safety: the number of social housing blocks that have unsafe cladding and no clear remediation plan in place appears to have fallen from 596 to 500.

In an update on a major building safety incident, the London Fire Brigade has found that the flammable cladding on the Spectrum Building in Dagenham was “almost completely removed” when the block caught fire in August 2024.

Finally, our piece on the latest housing research asks: is shared ownership truly more affordable than private renting?

Have a great weekend.

Stephen Delahunty, news editor, Inside Housing

Say hello: stephen.delahunty@oceanmedia.co.uk

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