NHF: Half a million added to waiting lists - if housing budget cut by 40%

Monday, 26 July 2010 12:00 AM

More than half a million people could be added to housing waiting lists - and 283,000 construction industry jobs lost or not created - if the Government slashes the affordable housebuilding budget by 40%, a leading campaign group warned today.

The National Housing Federation said ministers, who are looking at making cuts to departmental budgets of up to 40%, risked shutting the door on an entire generation of families on lower incomes by withdrawing billions of pounds worth of funding for affordable housing schemes.

Waiting lists are already at record levels with 4.5 million people currently waiting for a social home in England, while an estimated one million children are living in overcrowded housing.

But just as the demand for new homes has reached new highs, the number of homes being built has slumped to its lowest level since the Second World War with just 123,000 built in 2009/10.

The Treasury has ordered government departments to budget for cuts of 40% ahead of October's comprehensive spending review.

A 40% cut to the affordable housebuilding budget would mean the budget between 2011/12-2019/20 would be reduced from £28.6bn to £13.1bn - a fall of £15.5bn.

The Federation, which represents England's housing associations, says that if the housing budget was cut by 40%:

. Around 230,000 affordable homes would not be built up to 2020
. 570,000 people would be added to waiting lists for an affordable home
. Around 283,000 jobs in the construction industry would be axed or not created by 2020
. And the wider economy would also suffer, with the cuts reducing economic activity by around £50bn over the next ten years.

The Federation warned that the poorest communities would be hardest hit by the proposed cuts to housing and would have a series of damaging knock-on effects. Research has consistently found a link between bad housing conditions and poor health, low educational attainment and higher crime rates.

Cutting funding for desperately needed social homes would also call into question the Prime Minister's pledge to 'always looking after the poorest in our country'.

The Federation estimates spending cuts of 40% would reduce the number of affordable homes built between 2011/12 and 2019/20 from 426,000 to 197,000.

The number of jobs losses sustained as a result of the huge reductions in grants would tota 31,500 a year.

Federation chief executive David Orr said: "It is clear the amount of public money available to fund various activities in the future is going to be tight. However, given the scale of the nation's housing crisis, it is critical that the nation keeps building affordable housing.

"If we don't safeguard the building of affordable homes then hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people will be added to waiting lists already at record levels.

"Brutal cuts of 40% to the housing budget would effectively shut the door on an entire generation which would be left with little hope of ever being allocated a social home.

"Over 31,000 jobs would also be lost from the construction industry every year and cost the economy £5.6bn a year in lost activity - if cuts on this scale were introduced.

"We would urge the Government to closely consider the huge human, social and economic cost of failing to invest in affordable housing."

He added: "We understand the need to reduce the deficit and housing associations are continually thinking about how to build homes while being even more effective and innovative - and maximising the value they deliver for the public money invested."

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