Social Housing Fails to Meet Decent Standards’ Target

7 November 2006

Nearly one million public sector dwellings are in a ‘non decent’ condition, despite substantially increased provision for capital investment since 2004, according to the Construction Products Association annual report, Achievable Targets, Is Government delivering?   During the last 12 months, both investment and delivery on the ground have fallen well short of what the Government intended and what is needed to meet its own targets of bringing the housing stock up to a ‘decent standard’ by the end of the decade.

Failure to meet the set targets is particularly disappointing as much of the ‘non decent’ social housing stock also has poor energy efficiency. Improvements are urgently needed to all housing stock if the Government is to meet its climate change objectives and reduce the level of carbon emissions.

The Report, which is being launched at the Hilton Hotel, London on Wednesday 8 November 2006, also highlights the increased targets the Government has set itself for the provision of new social rented homes; targets the Report warns are unlikely to be achieved.  The Government has set a target to deliver 75,000 new social homes in the three years to April 2008.  Yet in the first year only 18,000 homes were completed and there will need to be a marked upturn in the remaining two years if the target is to be achieved.
 
Commenting on the report, Michael Ankers, Chief Executive of the Construction Products Association, said: “Progress with addressing the backlog of disrepair within the existing stock is disappointing.  To have so many non decent dwellings at the beginning of the 21st Century is unacceptable.

“Social housing should be a priority commitment in the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review. The challenge is to ensure that investment is available to meet these targets and this means maintaining the increased funding that has been secured in recent years. The Government should set a clear target for the elimination of all non decent social housing by the end of the decade and to provide more up to date information to monitor the progress.”

The full report shows that in a range of public sector services – social housing, health facilities, roads, rail, water infrastructure and school buildings – the Government is continuing to miss its targets and as a percentage of GDP, the UK still languishes near the bottom of the European league for investment in the built environment.

The 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review will be developed against a much tighter financial framework than recent Reviews, but the Report stresses that now is not the time to cut back on the capital investment needed to get these key programmes back on track and improve the effectiveness of the services being delivered.  It calls for the Government to fix a firm and clear investment strategy for the future that will not only deliver better facilities and improve business competitiveness but will ensure a more cost effective delivery of essential public services for the people of this country.