Five-year housing deals could save £4.5bn over 30 years, report claims

The roll-out of five-year local housing deals by 2025 would lead to 200,000 additional social homes being built over the span of 30 years and deliver £4.5bn in savings, a new report by the Local Government Association (LGA) has said.

The LGA’s Local Government White Paper calls on the Government to commit to the local deals, combining funding from multiple national housing programmes into a single pot.

The report suggested that a system allowing local management to control housing funding more consistently could increase social housebuilding by 21%.

The LGA added that moving towards one single long-term fund could improve housing delivery by prioritising a strategic approach over short-term thinking and helping to avoid the boom-and-bust cycles of housebuilding.

It claimed that delivering more social rented homes through five-year regimes would also reduce government spending on emergency assistance and homelessness services, create tax benefits through increasing economic activity, and deliver long-term savings on temporary accommodation provision of £4.5bn over 30 years.

The call comes as the London Borough of Newham reported today (1 August) that temporary accommodation costs saw the council go £22m over budget last year.
Commenting on the report, Cllr Claire Holland, Housing spokesperson for the LGA, said: “The only way to solve this country’s housing crisis is by giving councils the powers and resources to build more of the genuinely affordable homes our communities desperately need.

“Councils know their areas best and need the autonomy and funding certainty to be able to deliver long-term plans for housebuilding in their local areas.

“Five-year local housing deals are crucial to give local areas the powers to build more affordable, good quality homes at scale, quickly, where they are needed.”

Adam Carey