Plymouth Council could buy homes to ease housing crisis
Plymouth City Council could buy up properties across the city in an attempt to ease the city’s ongoing housing crisis.
The council’s governing cabinet will discuss a business case on 11th December to spend up to £10m and apply for up to £5m funding from Homes England’s Affordable Homes Programme to buy desperately needed homes for local people as well as tackle ongoing temporary accommodation budget pressures.
Like other cities, Plymouth is facing a homelessness crisis brought about by a combination of factors such as the cost-of-living and the ongoing economic impact of the pandemic.
More families and individuals have found themselves homeless because of a declining private rented sector, with landlords selling up or increasing rents to meet their own rising costs. There are fewer homes available in the social housing sector due to homes being sold off and delays in building new houses due to construction costs and labour shortages.
As a result, there’s been a massive 158% increase in demand for temporary and short-term accommodation, with families staying longer in temporary accommodation as there are fewer permanent homes to move into.
Chris Penberthy, Plymouth’s cabinet member for housing, said: ‘The situation is desperate. Plymouth is experiencing a record amount of people approaching the council for housing support.
‘We are now seeing families with jobs, with children, who find themselves simply unable to find a place to live. Landlords are selling up in record numbers, mortgages are going through the roof as well as rent. We have been talking to property agents and for every home that comes up to rent, there are over 100 enquiries.’
The business case proposes using service borrowing of £10m and a Homes England grant of £3-5m if the council’s bid is successful. As well as providing homes, investing in properties could reduce the amount the council spends on temporary accommodation by over £1m a year.
Penberthy said: “We are in this insane situation where the average annual cost of a B and B [bed and breakfast] room is £21,797. That’s a room – not a flat or a house – and it’s a room that no one wants to be in.
‘If we buy properties and rent them out, these will not only create homes for Plymouth families who have been made homeless but will massively reduce the amount of money we have to spend on B and Bs and other temporary accommodation such as hotels. We need to take decisive action to address this problem.’
The council has developed an acquisitions strategy and will work closely with developers and registered social landlords. The aim is to look at new builds in the first instance as this would not affect the existing housing stock. The council said that new builds also have a ten-year building guarantee as well as a good standard of accommodation.
Other options including renovations using a specialist company to buy and renovate properties. Once the properties have been acquired, there will be a need for a housing management and maintenance service. The costs of this have been factored into the financial modelling.
Properties acquired will be classified as supported accommodation and the council will provide a family support service. In the long term, it is expected that these properties will become available for general social housing. If the grant application is successful, Homes England will fund a proportion of the purchase price, but the houses will be 100% council owned.
Image: Paul Volkmer
Spend on children’s services doubles in a decade for poorest councils
Council leaders criticise lack of support for care services in Autumn Statement