Inside Housing – Home – Investing in social housing could add over £50bn to economy

Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said that homelessness is a “political choice, with a simple solution”. 
She said: “Building 90,000 social homes a year will not only end the housing emergency, but due to the wider economic benefits it brings, it will pay for itself within just three years. 
“Day after day our frontline services are inundated with calls from people who are being tipped into homelessness because there are no genuinely affordable homes available and private renting is just too expensive. 
“Communities are being torn apart as people are priced out of their local areas – leaving behind their jobs, children’s schools and support networks. 
“It doesn’t have to be this way. A safe and secure social home will give people a place to thrive – improving their health and access to work and education. 
“All political parties must make the choice to ending the housing emergency – they must fully commit to building 90,000 new genuinely affordable social rent homes a year for 10 years.” 
Kate Henderson, chief executive of the NHF, said building more social homes is a “win-win solution”. 
She added: “It will immediately boost the construction industry, supporting thousands of jobs, and will save the government and taxpayer money over the longer term. 
“It also brings huge benefits to people affected by the housing crisis through reducing homelessness, increasing employment and boosting children’s life chances. 
“We urge all political parties to commit to a long-term plan for housing with funding to build a plan for a generation of new social homes.”
A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) spokesperson said: “Last year saw the highest year on record for affordable housing delivery, with a 12% increase in starts to the previous year and since 2010, we have delivered over 696,100 new affordable homes, including over 172,600 homes for social rent.
“Our commitment to building more homes and boosting social housing supply remains, and our £11.5bn Affordable Homes Programme will deliver thousands more affordable homes to rent and buy across the country. 
“Through our long term plan for housing we are on track to meet our manifesto commitment to build one million homes over this parliament.”
Inside Housing’s Build Social campaign is also calling for 90,000 social homes a year in England, and 100,000 UK-wide.



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