Build Social starts with us

We work closely with our colleagues at Buckinghamshire Council to provide households with the right type of home in the right area, for a rent they can afford.

The council currently has over 6,600 households on its waiting list, and a further 375 in temporary accommodation, costing in excess of £6m each year. We’re also building new relationships with several neighbouring authorities, to deliver as much new housing as we can.

However, of the 750 homes we delivered, only 102 are for social rent. We’re committed to building as many social rented homes as possible. All of our rented homes within our grant-funded programme are social rent and, where viable, we do our best to convert as many affordable rent homes into social rent as we can. 

“We’re committed to building as many social rented homes as possible. All of our rented homes within our grant-funded programme are social rent and, where viable, we do our best to convert as many affordable rent homes into social rent as we can”

This is especially true of larger homes, which are desperately needed. Affordable rent on a new-build four-bedroom home in Buckinghamshire is upwards of £320 per week, often making it difficult to find a household that can afford the rent without trapping them in the benefits system.

We have a strong focus on tenancy sustainment, and we make sure that those moving into affordable rent homes can afford it. To do that, for the larger houses, we often have to overlook a number of families that, even with the high-quality, in-depth welfare support we offer, simply could not make ends meet.

This is always a tough decision. We’re here to house the most vulnerable after all, but we think it’s wrong to set people up to fail.

The only answer to this problem is for our new Labour government to deliver a significant programme of building homes for social rent. Only then can we help more people like Jenny. Jenny fled a violent relationship and was living in her car, which the perpetrator subsequently vandalised. Her mental health was already poor, but being so vulnerable made it worse and she became heavily dependent on alcohol.

We became aware of her through one of the multi-agency community hubs we run and we supported her to apply for social housing, which was achieved quickly. We then supported her to seek help for her alcohol dependency, assisted her with claims for welfare benefits, sought funding to carpet her home and worked with her to build her general confidence.

Jenny is now unrecognisable – she’s happy, confident and has ambitions. She’s in a new, healthy relationship, is free of her dependency and is starting a family.

“Both Jenny’s and Gary’s recovery stories started with a safe, warm, truly affordable home. Their stories are remarkable, but we know that there are thousands of others like them who will carry on suffering until they are properly housed, in a home they can afford”

More social rent homes would also let us help more people like Gary. Gary is an armed-forces veteran with a history of PTSD. Following the break-up of his marriage, he became street homeless and addicted to heroin for a number of years. Both his physical and mental health were atrocious, he had no sense of self-worth and didn’t think himself worthy of support.

We housed him in flat via our Housing First scheme, which we run in partnership with the council and the YMCA. The security of a roof over his head and his own front door gave Gary the confidence to work with us and other agencies to address his addiction and associated health problems, including support for his PTSD.

The road has occasionally been bumpy, but Gary has managed to kick his addiction, and his health has improved considerably. He now volunteers at one of our community hubs and has expressed an interest in becoming a support worker so that he can give something back.

Both Jenny’s and Gary’s recovery stories started with a safe, warm, truly affordable home. Their stories are remarkable, but we know that there are thousands of others like them who will carry on suffering until they are properly housed, in a home they can afford.

With the proper support, most people have the ability to sustain a tenancy and become part of a thriving community. We just need more social rent homes for this to happen.