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Sharma letter reveals he was told affordable rents ‘unaffordable’ at tenant roadshows
At his tenant roadshows, Alok Sharma was told affordable rents are “not really affordable” and a lack of government investment has seen safety standards fall, a letter reveals.
In a letter seen by Inside Housing, the former housing minister wrote to tenants who attended one of the events, setting out the concerns raised.
He listed seven issues which “summarised the points heard during the day”.
Mr Sharma was supposed to use the evidence to inform a Social Housing Green Paper to be published in the spring, but was moved out of the role in January.
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The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government last week confirmed that his replacement, Dominic Raab, will take the final session, due to take place in Basingstoke this Thursday.
In the letter he listed the stigmatisation of tenants; lack of social, affordable and supported housing; investment and safety; community; communication; quality of service; and “issues around welfare and benefits” as the major topics tenants expressed concern about.
On affordability he said: “Some felt that there is a lack of social and affordable housing, and of the type needed to meet local need.
“Tenants felt that affordable rents are not really affordable and social landlords should ensure that empty void properties are allocated more quickly.”
Affordable rents were introduced by the coalition government in 2010. They can be set at up to 80% of the market rate – more than double traditional social rents in some parts of the country – in order to make up for lower rates of government grant.
On investment he added: “The view was expressed that lack of central government investment has led to cuts in services and safety standards falling.”
He added that tenants told him “there are no clear ways for management to be held to account” and sometimes felt their concerns were dismissed by social landlords.
Despite reports of a focus on Universal Credit, mention of concerns expressed about welfare reform was limited to one line. An extract is published below.
The Social Housing Green Paper was announced by Sajid Javid in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower disaster, which killed at least 71 people in June.
He said the policy document would lay the ground for a “fundamental rethink of social housing in this country”. The green paper will be a “wide-ranging, top-to-bottom review” of the issues facing the social housing sector and will be the “most substantial report of its kind for a generation”, he said.
It is intended to “kick off a nationwide conversation on social housing – what works and what doesn’t work, what has gone right and what has gone wrong”.
