Social housing: lack of homes leaves system in crisis

The number of people waiting on local authority housing registers is up by three per cent to roughly 40,000 from the previous year - the most since 2014.

Research from the New Economics Foundation (NEF) also revealed that 41 per cent of council homes sold under the Right to Buy Scheme are now on the private market.

The Right to Buy Scheme, introduced by Margaret Thatcher's government in 1980, allows people to buy their council homes, moving many of them into the private market.

A Freedom of Information request by the NEF found that the number of homes bought under the scheme and now on the private market has grown by 3.2 per cent in the past ten years, which means 109,000 more homes are now let privately.

The lack of social housing stock leaves many waiting for a house in temporary accommodation at a high cost.

Cllr Douglas Johnson, chair of the Housing Policy Committee for Sheffield Council, said: “This creates a big financial pressure on the council, which has a knock-on impact on every other area of council spending.”

Rising costs affect the council's provision of social housing, with a Sheffield Wire FOI request revealing that Sheffield Council spent £42 million on exempt accommodation alone in 2024/25.

"Last year councils spent £2.3 billion providing accommodation for households experiencing homelessness - that’s £6 million per day"

This is not solely a local problem, with Shelter reporting that councils including Dartford, Hastings and Crawley spent over half their council tax income on temporary accommodation last year.

Hannah Rich, of Shelter, said: “Temporary accommodation is costing councils eye-watering sums.

“Last year councils spent £2.3 billion providing accommodation for households experiencing homelessness - that’s £6 million per day.

“As costs continue to grow, councils spend more of their budgets on temporary accommodation and a growing number are at risk of bankruptcy.”

Many living in social housing also experience maintenance problems, such as mould and damp, which sometimes go unfixed for long periods of time.

Unfit living conditions like these can lead to both physical and mental issues for residents.

The Government is set to pass Awaab’s Law later this year, which will bring in greater powers to regulate landlords and ensure such living conditions are fixed.

The legislation follows the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in 2020 as a result of a severe respiratory condition which a coroner ruled was caused by prolonged exposure to black mould in his Rochdale home.