Calls for £1.37bn fund to regenerate outdated housing by Landlords, in the North of England

A report launched this week in Parliament compiled by the Northern Housing Consortium details how the requirement for a huge increase in the numbers of social housing for the North of England is now urgent. The 'state of the nation' report shows there are just under 500,000 households on waiting lists for social housing in the North. This is a huge 13% increase from 2024, with the number of families now living in temporary accommodation also increasing at an alarming rate, with approximately 14,000 children also in temporary accommodation.

The report by the NHC also shows that 600,000 homes for social housing were done so through the Right to Buy scheme, with only 1 out of 7 homes being replaced, this further contributes to the lack of stock in the social housing sector, and forces the people in these homes to either become homeless or they are forced to rent in the private rental sector, with higher rents and lower quality.

The 'state of the nation's findings also show that in the private rental sector, a quarter of those families in the North were pushed into the 'poverty bracket' after all associated housing costs were taken care of, as they were in the lowest income earning class, this also included 1 in 3 children living in 'poverty'.

It was also stated by the NHC that approximately 27% of private rental properties in the North of England were not up to decent homes standards. The NHC is suggesting, but not limited to, a 10 year affordable homes programme, to support regeneration schemes, to replace old homes with new with a focus on quality, ensure that funding is targeted correctly towards the requirements of the local communities, more support for local authorities to make sure help is there for them to build new council housing, and help towards local authorities to bring the PRS (Private Rental Sector) up to better standards, including a funding stream of £1.37bn across 5 years for neighbourhood regeneration. The fund would help acquisition, demolition, replacement and the refurbishment of homes needing regeneration.

Tracy Harrison, chief executive for Northern Housing Consortium, said: “Housing waiting lists are increasing and the number of people forced into expensive and unsuitable temporary accommodation is skyrocketing. 3.6m people in the North are pushed into poverty after housing costs, demonstrating the urgent need for more social housing. Housing associations and councils are ready to deliver the homes their communities need and to contribute to government housebuilding targets and economic growth, but to do this they need the right resources. The government recently announced a £2bn top up of the Affordable Homes Programme, something we’d been campaigning for to enable our members to continue building. However, to make a real change, longer term funding is needed to build more homes and improve existing homes and places. Lower land values make building in the North more affordable. We are leading the way with devolution, which means in many areas there is already the infrastructure and collaboration in place to better target funding.”

The labour government has committed to building 1.5m homes or 370,000 homes per year. However, the NHC said that the previous government’s targets were exceeded in the North of England, so to hit the new targets the delivery of new homes needs to increase by 27%.