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Javid announces ‘wide-ranging’ green paper on social housing
The government will publish a “wide-ranging” green paper on social housing, the communities secretary has announced today.
Speaking at the National Housing Federation (NHF) annual conference this morning, Sajid Javid said it is clear there needs to be 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”.
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But in response David Orr, chief executive of the NHF, said while the green paper is welcome it cannot be allowed to “inhibit” the government to act now to support social housing.
Mr Orr said £1.2bn of government money set aside for Starter Homes could be used for social rented homes. “That is a decision that wouldn’t cost the government anything because the money is already there; it doesn’t need to wait for the outcome of a green paper,” he added.
Mr Orr also contested the communities secretary’s claim that £7bn of government funding had gone into social housing between 2016 and 2021.
He said: “At the risk of sounding pedantic, there has been money for affordable rent but not for what everyone here understands as social rent. So affordable rent, shared ownership – these are important products that have a very important part to play, but proper social housing – low rents for people on low incomes – that’s not been part of the landscape and it must be.”
The green paper will not only look at the safety of social housing following the Grenfell Tower fire, it will also cover the quality of social homes, “many of which are now beginning to show their age”, Mr Javid said.
It will include a look at the management of social homes, the rights of tenants and how complaints are handled.
The government will seek the views of tenants alongside the “usual suspects” of housing associations, thinktanks and lobbyists.
Mr Javid said the green paper would not be “rushed” because it would take time to get this “substantial piece of work” right.
Mr Javid admitted that “successive governments” have not done enough to take social housing “seriously”.
