Over a million households stuck on social housing waiting lists, Shelter says

Polly Neate, CEO of Shelter, said: ‘The fact that one year on from Grenfell, some survivors are still homeless has totally shaken people’s trust in the safety net the state supposedly provides. And this is despite them being ‘fast-tracked’ outside the usual waiting list system, too.

‘Imagine then, how frustrating life must be for the millions of people elsewhere in the country who have been stuck on waiting lists, often for years on end. This is not just confined to London but happening right across the country, from Brighton to Blackpool. Families are unable to get settled and unable to get on with their lives.

This week the Local Government Association (LGA) published a study which revealed that two-thirds of councils will have no chance of replacing homes sold off under Right to Buy on a one-for-one basis in five years’ time unless a significant restructuring of the scheme takes place.

A spokesperson for the LGA said:  ‘In 1977, there were 5 million council homes, now there are 1.6 million. Just one in 10 of all households live in council housing, compared with a third in 1977. This compares with a doubling of households in more expensive privately rented homes, from 2.2 million in 1977 to 4.5 million now.

‘This loss of social rented housing risks pushing more families into the private rented sector, driving up housing benefit spending and rents and making it more difficult for families to save the deposit needed for their first house.

‘Only an increase of all types of housing – including those for affordable or social rent – will solve our housing shortage and help to make housing affordable for future generations.

‘Councils must be part of the solution to our chronic housing shortage and able to resume their historic role as a major builder of affordable homes.

‘For that to happen, the Government needs to completely scrap the cap on the amount councils can borrow to build and allows councils to be able to keep 100% of receipts from properties sold through Right to Buy to replace homes and reinvest in new housing.’

Below are Shelter’s figures which reveal the 10 English local authorities with fewest available social homes compared to households on a waiting list :