Renewing and restoring existing housing stock needs more attention – and cash – than it is getting
Victoria Mill and the Miles Platting Urban Village in Manchester (Bardhok Ndoji/Alamy)
4 min read
The Social Housing Bill now passing through the House of Lords gives extra impetus to the drive for more desperately needed social housing.
The legislation constrains the Right to Buy which has led to the loss of two million social rented homes – 40 per cent of them now owned by private landlords charging rents up to three times higher.
The legislation also introduces greater protection for survivors of domestic abuse and repeals some unimplemented and unwanted earlier measures for compulsory sales of good-quality council housing.
But the legislation does not address investment and a strategy for regenerating the worst of our existing housing stock and left-behind neighbourhoods.
With 176,000 children living in precarious, dismal temporary accommodation, it is right that the government sets an ambitious target for new homes. But this is only half the story. The other half is the need to restore and renew the worst of the 1960s council estates of tower blocks and prefabricated buildings – like the one housing little Awaab Ishak, who died as the result of being exposed to mould growth in his social housing flat.
Similarly, we must upgrade those half-abandoned high streets hit by the changes in the nation’s shopping habits. We must also address the privately rented pre-First World War terraces that are unfit for human habitation.
The government’s efforts to get new social housing constructed is hugely welcomed. The grant settlement for the sector is at its highest level since 2010 and the agreement on rent increases in line with inflation plus one per cent means social housing providers have the secure income to properly manage and maintain their existing homes. But grants for regenerating left-behind neighbourhoods are lacking. There is no room for rental income to stretch to much-needed major works, let alone demolition and rebuilding of beyond-repair housing.
The Treasury is clearly convinced of the value of stimulating new housebuilding as a booster to the wider economy. But the Chancellor seems unconvinced that investment in restoration and renewal is as positive for growth. This deserves to change and a better balance needs to be found.
The Renew project of the Northern Housing Consortium – which represents the social housing providers in the three northern regions – is mapping the way forward. It highlights new opportunities for tackling the backlog of unfit properties that are past their sell-by date. In Greater Manchester, mayoral development corporations with wide powers are operating in Stockport and Rochdale. These arms-length public bodies provide the continuity and concentrated attention – with an area masterplan and streamlined planning – to reinvigorate depressed neighbourhoods.
Investing in housing-led regeneration has a host of benefits that don’t always apply to newly built estates
In relation to private sector properties in urgent need of upgrading, Blackpool council, for example, is putting pressure on the worst landlords and taking direct action of its own through a local housing company.
Investing in housing-led regeneration has a host of benefits that don’t always apply to newly built estates: an ailing local economy gets a boost; much-needed opportunities emerge for training and apprenticeships; communities can see and engage with the renewal of local environments; health and wellbeing can improve for populations with the worst health records; hope and aspiration – after years of neglect – can be restored. And unless attention is paid to deteriorating housing, the cost of rectifying its defects will become far greater; demolition will be a necessity, and expensive replacement will be essential.
The government’s determination to speed up planning through better resourcing of planning authorities and the significant increases in investment in infrastructure will mean more homes more quickly – even if the 1.5m target remains elusive.
But the state of some existing accommodation and surrounding areas raises a big question: should available resources be shared more evenly with places in need of regeneration and levelling up? Could the devolution to mayors and combined authorities mean future decisions will reflect a greater interest in existing communities? Would that not directly improve the lives of those in the worst circumstances and achieve the most rapid economic and social gains?
Lord Best is a crossbench peer and co-chair of the New Towns APPG
