Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the reduction in social housing rents on the maintenance and improvement of the existing housing stock, and on the building of new houses between now and 2022.
Answered on
27 March 2017
The fiscal impact of the social rent reduction policy on public finances was included as part of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s policy costings for Budget 2015 which can be (attached) found at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/443195/Policy_costings_summer_budget_2015.pdf on page 53
In September 2015 the Department for Communities and Local Government carried out an impact assessment of the effect of the social rent reduction policy on housing associations which can be (attached) found at http://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006F.pdf on page 4.
Social housing providers are well placed to manage these reductions and have proved themselves to be more than capable of adapting and responding to change. The Government is investing £7.1 billion in the expanded Affordable Homes Programme from 2016-21, which will support housing associations and local authorities to build another 225,000 affordable homes by March 2021.