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Nearly 100 families face eviction after council confirms it will close housing company
Nearly 100 families have been told they will have to leave their homes after a South East council confirmed it will close down its wholly-owned housing company.
Reading Borough Council confirmed last month that it will shut down Homes for Reading and buy back the properties to rent out as affordable housing.
The homes are legally required to be vacant to be absorbed into the council’s general housing stock.
Reading said it would help 94 families to find alternative accommodation when their tenancies end, which is in between one and two years’ time in some cases.
The 101 homes will be transferred to the council’s mainstream housing stock when each individual tenancy ends, to be let at affordable rent for key workers.
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A total of 1,249 people have signed an online petition urging the council to stop the closure.
Homes for Reading was set up in 2016 to buy properties on the open market and let them at open-market rents. The occupants are private tenants paying market rents.
However, the council said that changes to local authority lending rules, the housing market, interest rates on borrowing and other external factors affected the viability of the company.
It had been funded by loans from the council, but has been unable to keep up with repayments, with council reports showing two missed instalments in September 2022 and March 2023. The company has not added to its portfolio since 2019.
In February, the council wrote to Homes for Reading tenants to consult them on the future of the company. The consultation ended on 31 March.
Matt Yeo, lead councillor for housing at Reading, said the council had consulted tenants and “arrived at this conclusion, having considered every possible option”.
“I recognise the impact this decision will have on the 94 families who are still in these properties, and I am sorry for the disruption and inconvenience it may cause them.
“Officers from the council will be working actively with every one of our tenants between now and 2026 to help them find alternative suitable housing.
“We are committed to ensuring that they can all make the transition to other suitable homes with our support.
“Ultimately, the difficult financial circumstances all councils now find themselves in mean we have a responsibility to look after our finances to support the provision of services that residents rely on.
“We must prioritise the interests of all residents and communities we serve, who depend on the council remaining financially viable,” he said.
Changes to council funding rules have also led to the closure of several ALMOs in recent years.
Newcastle, Cheltenham, Bury, Lewisham and Tower Hamlets councils are in the process of bringing housing management back under direct control in the face of regulatory and financial pressures.
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