By Neil Merrick
21 January 2010
A major government programme to improve social housing in England has been undermined by poor monitoring of work carried out by councils and housing associations, the National Audit Office said this week.
In The Decent Homes Programme, published on January 21, the NAO applauded efforts made over the years to bring homes up to the decent homes standard since it was launched in 2001.
But it said it was impossible to conclude if the programme represented value for money as the government had not kept proper records of money spent.
In 2001, the government estimated that 39% of all social housing was below standard. By April 2009, this figure had fallen to 14.5%.
In December, the Department for Communities and Local Government said that £22bn had been spent over eight years improving
1.4 million council homes, including the installation of new kitchens and bathrooms.
But this figure included all government-funded repairs, not just work done under the decent homes banner, the report pointed out.
It did not cover money spent by housing associations, including private loans raised by new associations set up following transfers of council stock.
‘The lack of a clear estimate at the outset of the programme, together with the lack of reliable information on actual total costs, means that the department has not been able to periodically compare actual total costs to estimates,’ the report said.
The DCLG believes that about 305,000 homes (8% of social housing) will fail the standard at the end of this year – the government’s original decent homes deadline.
It is estimated that work will not be completed until 2018/19, by which time some homes that have been improved might require further attention.
Last year, ministers diverted £150m that arm’s-length management organisations were expecting to spend on decent homes towards housebuilding projects.
Gwyneth Taylor, policy director at the National Federation of Almos, said there had been ‘a lot of chopping and changing’ during the course of the programme, partly in response to criticism from landlords.
Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: ‘There are risks to both the programme’s completion and what has been achieved so far if a reliable funding mechanism is not put in place to deliver the remainder of the programme and to maintain homes to a decent standard.’
21 January 2010
A major government programme to improve social housing in England has been undermined by poor monitoring of work carried out by councils and housing associations, the National Audit Office said this week.
In The Decent Homes Programme, published on January 21, the NAO applauded efforts made over the years to bring homes up to the decent homes standard since it was launched in 2001.
But it said it was impossible to conclude if the programme represented value for money as the government had not kept proper records of money spent.
In 2001, the government estimated that 39% of all social housing was below standard. By April 2009, this figure had fallen to 14.5%.
In December, the Department for Communities and Local Government said that £22bn had been spent over eight years improving
1.4 million council homes, including the installation of new kitchens and bathrooms.
But this figure included all government-funded repairs, not just work done under the decent homes banner, the report pointed out.
It did not cover money spent by housing associations, including private loans raised by new associations set up following transfers of council stock.
‘The lack of a clear estimate at the outset of the programme, together with the lack of reliable information on actual total costs, means that the department has not been able to periodically compare actual total costs to estimates,’ the report said.
The DCLG believes that about 305,000 homes (8% of social housing) will fail the standard at the end of this year – the government’s original decent homes deadline.
It is estimated that work will not be completed until 2018/19, by which time some homes that have been improved might require further attention.
Last year, ministers diverted £150m that arm’s-length management organisations were expecting to spend on decent homes towards housebuilding projects.
Gwyneth Taylor, policy director at the National Federation of Almos, said there had been ‘a lot of chopping and changing’ during the course of the programme, partly in response to criticism from landlords.
Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: ‘There are risks to both the programme’s completion and what has been achieved so far if a reliable funding mechanism is not put in place to deliver the remainder of the programme and to maintain homes to a decent standard.’
