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The Committee has published a new report calling for the government to leave affordable rents to the private sector and to direct their attention to social homes.

Earlier this week, the cross-party Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee (LUHC) published a new report titled ‘The Finances and Sustainability of the Social Housing Sector’, in which experts call on the government to invest in the social housing sector to ensure 90,000 new social rent homes can be delivered per year in England.

One of the ways of achieving this, according to professionals who work within the sector, is that the government should stop focusing their attention on affordable rents and they should set a clear, achievable target for the number of social rent homes it intends to create each year.

The report also recommends authorities use land value capture and reforms to grants and funding to support social housing, and help the sector deliver decarbonisation and fire safety improvements – a topic that should arguably be a priority since the tragic fire broke out at Grenfell Tower.

Responding to the report, Darren Rodwell, housing spokesperson for the Local Government Association (LGA), claimed that there are more than 1.2 million households on council waiting lists in this country and over 100,000 households living in temporary accommodation – a record high.

Rodwell said: ‘Long-term certainty on powers and funding could help councils deliver an ambitious build programme of 100,000 high-quality, climate-friendly social homes a year.’

In addition to Rodwell expressing his concerns, a number of other industry experts have also voiced their opinions on the new report.

Andy Hulme, chief executive, The Hyde Group

‘We need to be building around 90,000 more socially rented homes every year to meet existing need. But, to get anywhere near this, we need more public investment which will give the sector confidence and unlock an even larger amount of private investment.

‘Government can play an important role without necessarily as big a price tag. By giving housing providers more certainty on rents and longer funding programmes, investment in homes and the building of homes will be increased.’

Andrea Thorn, director of homes and communities, Riverside

‘Providing a target for the number of social homes the sector should build each year would enable government to work with housing associations and councils to deliver more much-needed homes.

‘Homes England should play a strategic role, providing grant funding for social housing which would help solve the housing crisis, boost the economy, create thousands of new jobs, and reduce pressure on the NHS, criminal justice system and social care system.

‘Ahead of the next general election we urge all political parties to read this report and engage with housing associations on how we can work together to fund and deliver more social housing in the decades to come.’

 In addition, London Councils welcomed the LUHC report, claiming that ‘without more government investment it is hard to see anything but a bleak future for social housing.’

‘With resources massively squeezed, it feels like we’ve been left with mission impossible,’ the spokesperson said. ‘Social housing is crucial to tackling London’s homelessness crisis. It’s a vital component of the capital’s social and economic success, and we should all want the sector to thrive. Boroughs are as keen as ever to work with ministers in ensuring more resources are secured for boosting social housing in London and across the country.’

Image: Huy Hóng Hớt

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The Denbigshire-based organisation have received over £1,000 to help it to repair fixable goods, reduce household waste and save locals money.

Although this café isn’t made up of coffee and baristas, it is full of conservationists who are working tirelessly to assist with the current climate crisis.  Ruthin Repair Café, a community based not-for-profit, has been repairing household goods for local residents since February 2020, in a bid to reduce waste.

Running once a month, its team of 24 volunteers have helped fix 963 items to date across 31 Repair Café events. The most common repairs are electricals, especially toasters and vacuum cleaners, followed by sewing repairs, such as soft toys and clothes.

However, the funding that has been announced by enfinium, the UK’s largest waste operator, will help take these events to the next level. The organisation is set to receive £1,500 which will cover running costs, including room hire and consumables, and enable volunteers to develop their skills. This will include first aid training, tool sharpening classes and PAT safety-testing certification, which is critical for electrical item repairs.

Arguably, this funding couldn’t have come at a better time. Data from the Öko-Institut – a non-profit, private-sector environmental research institute – shows that maintaining a single television for an additional seven years can save the equivalent of 657kg CO2.

Commenting on the news, Mike Maudsley, CEO of enfinium, said: ‘Repairing broken items is a critical part of reducing the amount of waste we produce. In turn, this leads to lower consumption, lower carbon emissions and less waste ending up in landfill. This is why we are delighted to be awarding Ruthin’s Repair Café with funding today, which has been helping local families to reduce waste and save money since 2020.’

In addition, Anne Lewis, Ruthin Repair Café organiser, has expressed her enthusiasm about being awarded the money.

‘We are thrilled to have been awarded this funding from enfinium. The funds will enable us to continue to help support the local residents of Ruthin repair their broken items, and provide training to our fantastic team of volunteers,’ Lewis added.

The funding from enfinium has come from the company’s Repair Cafés Support Fund, which was launched in March 2024. The total currently stands at £60,000 and it was established to supports cafés located within a 30-mile radius of one of enfinium’s facilities in Kent, North Wales, West Yorkshire or the West Midlands.

Cafés can apply for funding of up to £1,500 per annum before 31st May 2024.

The Ruthin Repair Café takes place on the first Saturday of every month at the Naylor Leyland Centre in Ruthin, North Wales, from 10AM to 3PM and is free and open to all.

Image: Ruthin Repair Café

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Sadiq Khan has been re-elected as the Mayor of London with the smallest mandate since the office was created 24 years ago, analysis shows.

On Thursday 2nd May it was announced that the Labour politician won 43.8% of the vote, which was enough to secure Khan a third term under the new First Past the Post system. However, new research from the Electoral Reform Society found the result means he is the mayor returning to City Hall with the lowest level of support among Londoners who voted when compared to results under the previous electoral system. 

All prior London mayoral elections used the Supplementary Vote (SV) system, which allows voters to indicate a first and second preference for two candidates. Under SV, if no candidate gets over 50% of first preference votes, the top two candidates continue to a runoff where second preference votes from eliminated candidates are allocated – ensuring winning candidates have a broad base of support.  

The mayor with lowest vote share under SV was Ken Livingstone, who received 44.4% of votes from voters giving him either their first preference vote or a transferred second preference vote in 2004.   

Darren Hughes, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, has claimed that this new system is making it more difficult for the public to vote, but is lowering the bar for politicians.  

‘What we are seeing at these elections is the bar being lowered for politicians while being raised for voters,’ Hughes said. ‘The move to First Past the Post has lowered the bar for politicians to get elected by taking choice away from voters. The result is we have seen a Mayor of London elected with the smallest mandate ever as well as PCCs and a mayor win their races on around a third of the vote.’

Hughes added: ‘This is bad for voters, who now have mayors and PCCs the majority didn’t vote for; it is bad for elected politicians who have to do their jobs with less backing for their policies; and it is bad for trust in democracy.’

However, Hughes go on to say that ‘we are seeing the bar to voting being raised for voters as this was the first-time millions had to show ID to cast their ballot.’

‘We know that voter ID has already prevented at least 14,000 people from voting at last year’s local elections and this year we have again heard of voters – including a decorated ex-serviceman – being barred from exercising their fundamental democratic right due to not having an accepted form of ID,’ Hughes continued.

‘Our politics is headed in the wrong direction when we are making it harder for people to vote but easier for politicians to get elected by reducing voter choice at the ballot box. We need to set our democracy on a better course by scraping voter ID and improving access to voting, but also by moving to proportional and preferential voting systems that better represent how people voted.’

Echoing a similar tone, Dr Jess Garland, director of research and policy for the Electoral Reform Society, said: ‘These local elections have again seen a raft of highly disproportionate results under First Past the Post, leading to council chambers that don’t accurately reflect voters’ choices. In some cases, parties have taken over 90% of the seats on less than half the vote, while other parties received no seats despite winning sizable vote shares.

‘There is a clear alternative to the unfair results we have seen in England. Both Scotland and Northern Ireland use a fairer proportional voting system, avoiding the distorted and random results produced by First Past the Post.

‘Proportional representation would mean fairer results at local elections and would create council chambers that better reflect the way people voted.’  

Image: Nick Fewings

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