A huge drive to construct social housing is vital to cut waiting lists and generate jobs
A massive social housing programme is urgently required to tackle one of Britain’s ‘forgotten crises’, which sees more than 8% of the population needing decent homes.
At a recent conference addressed by new housing minister John Healey, we at the Unite union highlighted its five-point programme, which could bring immediate help to the 4.5 million people on local authority social housing waiting lists.
We argued – and our case is set out in Meeting housing need: building Britain out of recession – that a large-scale council house building programme could be an engine for economic revival generally, by creating thousands of jobs in construction firms and suppliers.
It would also create more confidence in the future prosperity in the UK, diluting the fear outlined in a Which? survey, which revealed that one in three of the population is worried their home will be repossessed.
Also, as the government now straddles the financial sector – having taken substantial shareholdings in leading banking institutions – it is in a very good position to influence lending and repossession policies.
Unite welcomes the fact that the government has made progress on housing, particularly in April’s Budget, but there is still much more to do. The government’s target is for an increase of 70,000 more affordable homes per year by 2010/11, including 45,000 more social homes. But this will simply not be enough to meet increasing demand.
And, as the recession bites and home repossessions mount, the demand for social housing will rise from the 4.5 million people already on local authority social housing waiting lists – one in 12 people in the country. The National Housing Federation reports that waiting lists will have ballooned to almost 5 million by 2010.
Unite recognises that the housing requirements of the UK’s 60 million population are complex. Recent help has focused on mortgage holders with steep interest rate cuts, but the government should now help the millions who didn’t benefit from these cuts, but still need quality housing.
We are concerned that housing associations, a vital lynchpin in this process, are having their finances squeezed, which means that management is shaving costs by job cuts and worsening employment conditions for those that remain.
Maintaining construction jobs is another part of the equation. Before the recession struck, there was a skill shortage in the industry of 88,000 people. The Construction Skills Network predicts that 33,000 people a year need to be recruited into the industry between 2009 and 2013 for planned projects.
It has been argued that building up to 100,000 social rented homes over a two-year period would save 30,000 jobs in the construction industry.
Investing in home energy efficiency is another piece of the revival jigsaw, as housing represents 27% of the UK’s total carbon emissions.
The Local Government Association has called for a national council programme to provide basic insulation measures to 10 million homes with cavity wall and full loft insulation.
Unite is calling for:
- a re-energised programme of ‘new build, high-quality, environmentally sustainable social housing, including council homes’, which would create jobs, meet housing need and redress the inequality of social housing in rural areas.
- a comprehensive construction apprenticeship scheme for the 16 to 24-year-olds whose job prospects have diminished during the recession.
- investment in a ‘retro fit’ programme for existing homes to improve energy efficiency. It is estimated that such action could generate a further 25,000 jobs and would greatly contribute to the government’s environmental targets.
- the government to use its large stake in the banking sector to do more to prevent repossessions and strengthen the regulatory framework.
- greater support for housing associations to ensure they receive sufficient funding to provide housing and support for tenants; and that staff numbers and employment conditions are maintained and enhanced.
We believe that if these measures were implemented in a co-ordinated manner the waiting lists for decent housing would be reduced, much needed jobs would be created, and the positive impact of a dynamic house building programme would percolate through to other sectors of the economy.
Gail Cartmail is assistant general secretary for the public sector, Unite
