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Up to 277 applicants for every social rent home in London, study reveals
Every social rent home in London had up to 227 people apply during the pandemic, a new review from the agency in charge of advertising letting for these homes has revealed.
The report by the not-for-profit body Home Connections, which provides a platform that advertises council homes for those on waiting lists, analysed details of up to 26,000 properties.This research was carried out alongside Campbell Tickell and Kings College Policy Institute.
It found that demand increased to 277 applications per home, up from 254 people for every home prior to the pandemic.
The onset of the pandemic initially led to a dramatic drop in the demand and supply of social rent homes, however demand rebounded quickly within four months of the onset of coronavirus.
The report said: “In the year prior to the pandemic, there were around 1,250 properties advertised each month across Home Connections’ customers in England.
“In April and May 2020, during the first lockdown, this fell to about 250 and 450 respectively.”
The impact of COVID-19 in early 2020 led to the government effectively freezing the housing market for six weeks during the first national lockdown.
As a result, the first six months of the pandemic saw a steep drop in the number of social rent homes let, with lettings falling by 39% between April and September 2020.
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Setup in 2001, Home Connections describes itself as a “software house with a mission to deploy technology innovations to prevent and relieve homelessness”. The not-for-profit organisation is wholly owned by local authorities.
Figures provided by Home Connections showed that in 2019/20, a total of 306,187 lettings were made by local authorities and housing associations, which accounted for just over a quarter of the 1.15 million households on a waiting list as of March 2020. In 2019/20, a total of 58,759 new affordable homes were provided.
Home Connections concluded that the pandemic may have led to a change in what types of homes are in demand.
It stated: “COVID-19 has shifted the types of social housing most in demand. The pandemic significantly and unequally impacted household finances, with furlough and unemployment rates varying significantly across age groups and sectors.
“It has highlighted significant issues of overcrowding in both social and private rented stock, and introduced pressures which can contribute to household breakdowns.
“This is likely to result in changes both to supply and demand for social housing, which need to be understood to allow the sector to successfully adapt and best meet the needs of households.”
Proportionally more sheltered properties were available during the pandemic than before – 12.2% compared with 10.5%. The number of bids per sheltered property remained low.
Both before and during the pandemic, flats received by far the highest number of bids per property.
The report also noted that demand had increased for bedsits and one-bedroom properties since the pandemic. It said: “This could indicate more households without children were looking for social housing during the pandemic, which fits with changes in the patterns of homelessness.”
Home Connections stated that London “needs significantly more social homes where demand outstrips supply astronomically”.
“We need a higher number of properties with three or more bedrooms, appropriate for larger families waiting for a social home,” it added.
