Rent reduction expected for housing association tenants

government is expected to announce modest rent reductions for around two million housing association tenants

Posted by Garry Hudson on 10 November 2009.

The government is expected to announce modest rent reductions for around two million housing association tenants, despite a survey of tenants showing that most are against a rent cut.

 The associations – the main providers of social housing – fear that such cuts will lead to a sharp fall in the level of affordable house building because they will be unable to raise the necessary loans for new building. 

But ministers are determined to press ahead with the first ever rents cut, despite an opinion poll by the National Housing Federation (NHF), which represents the associations, showing that almost 70 per cent of tenants do not want a reduction. 

The NHF says that even a small cut will reduce their income, already well down as a result of the recession, by millions of pounds. NHF chairman, David Orr, said: ‘Faced with such a shortfall, associations could be forced into cutting back dramatically on the key services tenants really value, such as anti-social behaviour programmes, job training schemes and education initiatives.’

Housing associations, which have raised around £52bn of private finance over the past 20 years, with the government providing an additional £40bn, are targeted to build around 45,000 homes this year – and more in 2009-10.

But they have also been hit by the recession because thousands of homes they built for sale, to subsidise social housing, have been left empty for long periods as mortgages dried up.

 

 

Garry Hudson

Garry Hudson

I am the online marketing manager for Baines and Ernst. Based in the centre of Manchester. We have a history of success, helping over 100,000 people to start to clear their debt problems.

You can contact Garry at customer.services@bainesandernst.com.

 

Comments What do you think?

  • insolvency dude | 13:13 19 July 2010

    £52bn of private finance , with the government providing an additional £40bn for 45,000 homes this year and more.

    my opinion is that they should give all this monies to the UK government as its straped for cash, and in exchange the govenment can give them 45,000 homes from their portfolio of assets (bailed out banks), banks such as Northern Rock, RBS hold many properties in their books that they have gained through repossession, and have not release those properties on to the market.
    so in effect the UK government dnt have to have to build any new houses as they own everything the banks own.
    its all about restructuring, because i dnt remember seen droves of people living on the streets, so they must all be staying some where, even if its with housing benefit.

    give someone a house curtesy of the bail out banks, and save on paying them housing benefit. problem solved with out the need of futher funding.

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