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Allow housing associations to buy empty homes to help families self-isolate during pandemic, say MPs
Housing associations should be given support to buy up empty new build homes to house families attempting to self-isolate in overcrowded accommodation, MPs have said.
Meg Hillier and Karen Buck have written to education secretary Gavin Williamson, housing secretary Robert Jenrick and chancellor Rishi Sunak calling for a ‘housing market package’ allowing social landlords to acquire additional homes from house builders.
The plea comes as the government confirmed on Wednesday that schools across the country will close after Friday because of coronavirus, except for children of key workers.
The letter, seen by Inside Housing, said that the MPs are “concerned about the impact of self-isolation and family quarantine on families in severely overcrowded accommodation”.
“The closure of schools exacerbates this, with many children already sharing beds with their parents and sharing flats with another family. Many live in a single hostel room.”
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The MPs called on government to introduce a housing market package allowing registered social landlords to buy homes from house builders to be used for social rent.
These schemes were used previously in 1992 – when 18,000 properties were purchased – and 2008 following the financial crash. The programme also helped house builders to secure cash in periods of downturn.
Discussing the letter, Ms Hillier told Inside Housing: “The thing is it’s a tested vehicle so it’s not beyond the wit of man to reuse it – it’s not unprecedented.”
Ms Hillier also suggested that families forced into cramped conditions could experience “huge mental health traumas”.
The incentive for house builders to sell at a discount rate would be to get some money in at a time when the housing market is uncertain.
In London alone there are 22,481 empty homes that could be used to support vulnerable families, and a total of 226,000 in England.
The MPs said that they have been in contact with the National Housing Federation and the Local Government Association about the idea.
“There is expertise in the sector which would, we are sure, be willing to work up a model,” the letter said.
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