Levelling Up Committee launches inquiry into social housing finances and sustainability

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee has today (28 March) launched an inquiry into the finances and sustainability of the social housing sector in England, as the Chair, Clive Betts MP, describes it as being “in crisis”.

The inquiry will examine the financial pressures facing social landlords and the resources needed to meet a “variety of challenges, including the need to build thousands of new homes for social rent and the task of improving social housing stock”, the LUHC Committee said.

The inquiry follows the Committee’s Regulation of Social Housing report, which examined the condition of social housing and highlighted the “appalling and unsafe” conditions of some social homes due to mould, damp, and leaks.

The report said that the condition of some social housing in England had “deteriorated so badly as to be unfit for human habitation”, and that social housing providers must “significantly improve their complaint handling processes”.

As part of its inquiry, the Committee will examine the current range of grant funding available and the increasingly complex financial and corporate structures proliferating in the social housing sector.

Clive Betts said: “In the report on social housing, the Committee shone a light on the appalling living conditions faced by some tenants in social housing. Tenants deserve better and it is right that social landlords, supported by Government, step up their efforts to ensure homes are fit to live in and that tenant complaints are treated seriously and promptly.

“The social housing sector is in crisis. The reality is that social landlords face a range of significant financial pressures, not least the urgent need to invest in improving homes, so they are not blighted by mould, damp, and leaks. The sector must also meet the pressing demands to build thousands of new homes for social rent, decarbonise the housing stock, and fix building safety defects.

“In the Committee’s inquiry, we want to understand the extent of these demands, the impact on the financial resilience of the social housing sector, and the support and resources needed to meet these challenges and ensure we have the supply of good quality social homes we need for the future.”

The inquiry will also explore the social housing policy and regulatory challenges faced by the Department for Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities, the Regulator of Social Housing, and Homes England.

The Committee has issued a call for evidence, seeking written evidence on: the current state of financial resilience of social housing providers, new challenges to the social housing sector and the policy and regulatory challenges to the Department and the Regulator.

The Committee has said that evidence sessions for the inquiry are likely to begin in June.

Lottie Winson