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New development by housing associations falls
The number of new houses started and completed by housing associations has fallen as the soaring cost of land hampers progress, new figures compiled by the National Housing Federation (NHF) show.
Housing associations started 8,741 homes in the three months to June 2018, a 5.5% year-on-year drop, the NHF’s latest supply survey revealed.
Completions in the latest quarter totalled 8,912, which was a 7% slide on the same period last year.
Henry Gregg, relations director at the NHF, pointed the finger at the “spiralling price of land” for the decreases in homes built with housing associations struggling to afford new sites.
He added: “We also cannot discount the impact of historic government cuts to social housing, which forced many housing associations to build more homes for sale on the private market to cross-subsidise their work.”
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The NHF publishes its own statistics on housing association development because of what it calls “a long-standing problem”, with the official figures published quarterly by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
These numbers do not count Section 106 homes purchased from developers by housing associations as built by associations and can miss homes built outside affordable programmes.
While first quarter figures are typically lower than the rest of the year, this month marks the lowest level of starts since the NHF began gathering the data from members in 2016.
The figures show just under 13% (1,131) of new homes started were for social rent, with 47% for affordable rents – the higher rent tenure introduced in 2010 which requires less government grant. This tenure split is broadly consistent with previous quarters.
Housing associations also started 1,397 homes for market sale and 101 for market rent – 17% of output. A total of 2,686 shared ownership homes were started.
The figures also showed that 55% (4,797) of homes started and 46% of homes completed were delivered outside the government’s affordable homes programme. Meanwhile nearly half were also outside the programme, meaning they were built without government grant.
It comes following Theresa’s May speech to the National Housing Summit last week in which she promised a new £2bn pot to help housing associations build low-cost homes.
Mr Gregg added: “The government has made some positive announcements recently, but building houses is a long-term job, so it will take time for these changes to come into effect.”
The figures show housing association development was highest in the South East, with 2,420 new homes started. It was lowest in the North East where 260 new homes were started and in Yorkshire and the Humber which saw 285.
