Summit called over Bristol housing crisis

Bristol MPs are joining top city councillors at a summit with housing associations and homeless charities in a bid to avert Bristol’s growing housing crisis.

Representatives are meeting in Bristol on Friday against a backdrop of rising rents and house prices, a swelling council house waiting list and new government plans to sell off more housing stock.

The housing summit has been organised by MP Thangam Debbonaire in one of her first moves since being elected in Bristol West in May.

Ahead of the meeting, Bristol housing association United Communities warned that the city may lose over 3,000 socially rented homes over the next five years as a result of the government extending its Right to Buy scheme.

The housing association, which says it has 700 application for every vacant home, argued that Government funding for the scheme could better be spent on building new shared ownership housing. 

“Once our social housing stock has been sold it’s gone forever and demand for our remaining homes will intensify even more,” Oona Goldsworthy, United Communities chief executive said.

Debbonaire, who said housing was the number one concern of her constituents, added: “Selling off Housing Association homes is entirely irresponsible. The government has put forward no plans to replace the properties it will be losing.

“We already have a shortage of affordable places to live in Bristol, and this will definitely make the situation worse.  

“This measure doesn’t help homeless families, and depletes our already shrinking social housing stock. We need more homes for families in need, not fewer.”

The Government wants to extend the Right to Buy scheme from current council house tenants to housing association tenants too. They hope to offer a subsidised discount of up to 50 per cent, capped at £77,000 outside London.

The number of council homes sold off through Right to Buy hit a seven-year peak last year at 12,000 – with just 2,000 new social homes replacing them

Bristol has 28,000 Council owned properties for rent and approximately 12,000 housing association homes. Between 1980 and 1993, Bristol sold 25 per cent of their homes under the original Right to Buy and up until 2014 have sold off 50 per cent.

There are currently more than 10,000 families on the council house waiting list in Bristol and United Communities said as many as 700 families are applying for each housing association home. 

The housing association said: “If you are lucky enough to get to the top of the waiting list, you now stand to gain not just a new home but a further £77,000 towards the cost of buying that home. Can this be fair when the family privately renting the house next door will be paying more than that in rent and cannot benefit  from such a taxpayer handout?

“We fully support  home ownership, but argue that a fairer use of taxpayers money (£11.6bn is required to fund the extended right to buy), would be to spend it on building 660,000 new shared ownership homes, which would be accessible to all and help people get their foot on the housing ladder. Once our social housing stock has been sold it’s gone forever and demand for our remaining homes will intensify even more”.

Critics argue that falling social housing stock is a contributor to rising house prices and rents. Last year Acorn, a Bristol campaign group with the aim of improving rental conditions, burst onto the scene.

Calls have since been made for new local government powers for Bristol to enable the city to build more houses.

Just to keep up with the growth and prosperity of the city, Bristol and the surrounding authorities need to build a further 85,000 homes by 2036.

Ahead of the summet, Debbonaire said: “I’ve called this housing summit to bring together housing associations, homelessness organisations, key players in the council, and other organisations who are working to improve Bristol’s housing sector.

“By talking about the problems we face and the solutions we want, better-homes advocates in Bristol can start to move towards our goal – a future with enough affordable homes for everyone who needs them.”

The invite-only summit will be cross-party and attended by each of Bristol’s four MPs as well as members of the mayor’s cabinet.

There will be representatives from housing action groups, Bristol’s largest housing associations, a number of property developers, a nationwide homelessness charity and key city council officers.