30 July 2004
Housing organisations may have been premature in welcoming the recent Spending Review, according to a think-tank.
The 10,000 extra social rented homes promised each year to 2008 are only a fraction of what is required, says the Housing Quality Network, and there is no new money for councils to meet the decent homes standard.
The housing budget is being increased by 4.1% in real terms over the next three years. But the HQN points out that local authorities and housing associations must make efficiency savings totalling £835m.
Housing groups had called for 35,000 more homes to be built in 2005/06, rising to 60,000 by 2007/08. The Barker review, commissioned by the Treasury, suggested 23,000 new homes were needed per year. The HQN, a consultancy which provides services to councils and housing associations, welcomed the extra money for neighbourhood renewal, which rises to £450m in 2008.
But it claimed that councils without arm's-length management organisations could struggle to improve housing.
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