21 January 2011
Government plans to encourage elderly social housing
tenants to vacate family-sized homes have been greeted with scepticism.
Housing minister Grant Shapps yesterday announced a £13m fund to be divided among 50 councils, to help older people move out of large social homes into smaller properties.
Shapps said the funding – which is to be spread across the four-year Comprehensive Spending Review period – would help councils ensure their housing meets the needs of their residents.
He said authorities would be free to use the funding as they see fit, but recommended measures such as hiring a dedicated officer tor paying for a ‘moving service’ to work with tenants on every aspect of moving to a smaller home.
Figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government show that there are 430,000 ‘under-occupied’ social homes in England, in which tenants have two or more bedrooms than they need. Meanwhile, 250,000 families live in overcrowded housing, and 1.8 million are stuck on council housing waiting lists.
Shapps said older people can become ‘victims of their own changed circumstances’ as their homes become increasingly difficult to manage.
‘As children grow up and fly the nest, these tenants can often find themselves trapped in homes that no longer meet their needs… the homes they have lived in for years become places to endure, not enjoy.’
He added that the measure would help unlock the sought-after family homes.
Amy Swan, policy officer for the National Housing Federation agreed there was a problem with social tenants’ needs not being met by the homes they live in.
But, she added, the problem cannot be solved without a broader programme ensuring that housing in every area meets the needs of the local population.
Swan also underlined the contrast between Shapps’ plans to encourage people to downsize, and the proposals in the Welfare Reform Bill, which would force working-age housing benefit claimants into smaller homes by cutting their entitlements.
Shelter chief executive Campbell Robb dismissed the plans as ‘tinkering round the edges’. He added: ‘With 430,000 under-occupiers nationwide, this funding amounts to just £30 per home, nowhere near enough to have a significant impact and free up the family-sized homes we so desperately need.
‘The government needs to deliver some real solutions to our housing crisis.’
Joe Oldman, housing policy adviser for Age UK, acknowledged that social housing was a ‘scarce resource’, and said the £13m sum could encourage tenants to move by if councils used it to improve their current ‘bureaucratic’ systems.
But he also expressed concern that the cash might end up being used for councils’ general housing costs, and that local authorities might be tempted to put pressure on older tenants to leave their homes.
‘I also worry about this attitude that older people don’t need any space, or that they should live in the smallest, most cramped properties’ Oldman added.
