In the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, it became clear residents had raised concerns that had gone unheard. That cannot be allowed to happen again. This Green Paper sets out a new deal for social housing to ensure homes are safe and decent, residents are treated with dignity and respect and we have the social housing we need for the future.
The voices of those who live in social housing are at the heart of this Green Paper. From October to April this year, at 14 events across the country, we met almost 1,000 residents to understand their concerns and experiences of living in social housing. This included two events with the bereaved and survivors from Grenfell Tower and the wider community. More than 7,000 others responded online.
The headline messages from residents were that we must rebalance the power between them and their landlords, tackle the stigma so many said they experience, build the social homes that we need, and support more social tenants into home ownership. The Green Paper is underpinned by five principles:
1. Ensuring that homes are safe and decent
Residents were not only concerned about safety, but also the quality and maintenance of their homes. The Government has identified opportunities to accelerate a social sector early response to recommendations in Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety by supporting residents and landlords to engage on issues of
building safety. The Green Paper will also consider whether the Decent Homes Standard is demanding enough and delivers the right outcomes.
2. Swift and effective resolution of disputes
Residents raised issues about how complaints were dealt with when things go wrong. We want to make the process of handling and resolving complaints faster, easier and more effective. As part of this Green Paper we are consulting on reforming or removing the ‘democratic filter’. In addition, we want to explore whether more could be done to strengthen mediation opportunities so landlords and residents can resolve disputes locally, and help residents to access the right advice.
3. Empowering residents
We want to ensure residents are empowered, with more transparency about the information they receive from landlords. The Green Paper contains proposals to assess landlords against standards that matter to residents, to publish these assessments, and to strengthen the regulatory framework for social housing. We want to make sure the regulatory framework as a whole remains fit for purpose. We are publishing a Call for Evidence which seeks views on how the current regulatory framework is working, alongside this Green Paper. We are also seeking views on how to ensure residents’ voices are heard and strengthening their choice over the services they receive.
4. Elimination of stigma
Stigma was one of the most consistent themes raised by residents. We are seeking views on a number of proposals to tackle this including ways to celebrate thriving communities, encourage greater professionalisation amongst housing management staff and promoting good social housing design. We are also exploring options for improving neighbourhood management and addressing anti-social behaviour, another key issue for residents.
5. Boosting the supply of social housing and supporting home ownership
Residents told us that they wanted to see more affordable homes delivered. We have invested £9 billion into the Affordable Homes Programme, including up to £2 billion for social rent. We recently announced eight new strategic partnerships between Homes England and housing associations to accelerate the delivery of affordable homes. In the Green Paper we commit to actively investigating the benefits of going further by proving funding certainty to some housing associations over an even longer period. Building on the recently announced £1 billion of extra borrowing for local authorities, we have published the Right to Buy Receipts Consultation which sets out our proposals for exploring new flexibilities around how local authorities can use their Right to Buy receipts to build new homes. We are also exploring new reforms to make it easier for people living in affordable home ownership schemes to progress to full ownership, such as allowing them to purchase as little as 1% of their property each year through the Government’s Shared Ownership programme.
After listening carefully to social housing residents, we are proposing not to implement the provisions in the Housing and Planning Act 2016 to make fixed term tenancies mandatory for local authority tenants at this time.
We recognise the benefits of fixed term tenancies in the right circumstances to help social landlords make best use of their housing stock and that flexibility will remain. But we remain keen to ensure that victims of domestic abuse do not risk losing their lifetime tenancy if they are granted a new tenancy after fleeing abuse. We will bring forward new legislation to ensure that councils honour their lifetime tenancy in these cases.
This Green Paper, the Social Housing Regulation Call for Evidence and the Right to Buy Receipt Consultation are designed to prompt a national discussion. We have deposited all documents in the House of Commons Library. We will be engaging with residents, landlords and the wider sector as we develop these proposals further. The Green Paper consultation and Social Housing Regulation Call for Evidence both open today for 12 weeks until 6 November. The Right to Buy Receipts Consultation also opens today and will run for eight weeks, until 9 October. The documents are published at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/a-new-deal-for-social-housi….