Erdington Local often receives desperate messages and stories about HMOs or Exempt Accommodation – as the problems that stem from poorly managed housing stock roll roughshod across the constituency.
Since then, articles published across the country have described countless communities living in the shadows of egregious landlords and duplicitous housing providers.
But there is always more than one side of the story. And in a new series, LOCAL AMBASSADORS reporter Trish Jones – who worked extensively in the social housing sector – takes a first person look at the nation’s ongoing housing crisis.
And asks, why is it becoming more and more difficult to simply LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR?
Words by Trish Jones
I was brought up on a Council estate in the 1960s at a time when Council housing was highly prized with airy rooms and gardens as big as allotments.
Estates were planned to house people ‘for life’. Bungalows were available for older people, once their children had grown, freeing up three bedroomed homes for couples with young children.
Bespoke flats were integrated into the plan for singles and childless couples. Housing was made available for key workers such as caretakers, teachers, doctors and police constables – and schools, shops, and community centres were all supported by the local neighbourhood.
Since Thatcher introduced the ‘Right to Buy’ our Council houses in 1980, there has been a significant crisis in affordable housing supply in the UK. Household debt increased, and the policy is felt most acutely by those who cannot afford to buy.
Councils were prevented from using the money to build new Council houses and Council housing became rundown and poor.
According to research from the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government and New Economics Foundation, over two million houses have been sold off to date and four in 10 are now in the private-rented sector – where rents are partly financed by public funds via housing benefit payments to private landlords.
Housing Benefit was introduced in 1983 and designed to help people on low incomes to pay for rented accommodation, whether in or out of work. However, the state allocated funds often only covered part of the monthly rent with the tenant having to make up the shortfall.
Housing Benefit is currently being replaced by Universal Credit, which may cover housing costs differently.
Now we face a fully blown housing crisis with unaffordable house prices, an acute shortage of homes, and sky-rocketing rents – offering quick profits for a few with money, at the expense of ordinary people.
The landlords’ lobby has become a powerful political force – and some MPs and Councillors are themselves, private landlords. While this is not illegal it cannot help but influence housing policy at every level.
This card trick with public money means a large chunk of housing benefit goes into the private purse instead of into maintaining and developing affordable homes for all.
Next time LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR? Will look at Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and the Exempt Accommodation rip-off.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, or have something to tell us, LOCAL AMBASSADORS wants to hear from you. Email: [email protected]
