Social Housing new build lower than during the 2nd world war
The number of new homes for social rent fell to its lowest level since the Second World War during 2013-14, government figures have shown.
According to 24Housing:
Just 10,840 social rent homes were built by councils and housing associations during 2013-14, the lowest figure since 1945, tables published by the Department for Communities and Local Government revealed.
It means that of the 42,710 ‘affordable’ homes built during 2013-14, just 25% were for social rent.
The number homes built for social rent has been in steady decline since the coalition government came to power, thanks largely to the introduction of ‘affordable rent’ under the Affordable Homes Programme. Almost half (19,740) of the ‘affordable’ housing built last year was for ‘affordable rent’.
Colin Wiles, spokesperson for the SHOUT campaign, said: “These latest figures are a disgrace. They show that the provision of social rented homes, i.e. homes let at genuinely affordable rents, is at its lowest level since the second world war.
“SHOUT’s position is that we need to stop wasting £25 billion a year on housing benefit and start switching funds to bricks and mortar, to provide homes that people can afford to live in.”
1500% increase in food banks
A new report has revealed that the number of people turning to food banks in the UK has soared by 1,468% during the tenure of the Tory-led coalition government.
According to 24 Housing:
The Trussell Trust’s latest figures show that a shocking 913,138 adults and children received three days’ emergency food and support from its food banks over 2013-24 – a vast increase on the 346,992 who were helped in 2012-13.
Back in 2010-2011, the first years of the Tory-led coalition, 61,468 people received three days’ food support, meaning usage has ballooned by nearly 1,500%.
Despite the government boasting of an economic recovery, the poorest have seen their incomes squeezed even more, the Trussell Trust says.
Welfare reform minister Lord Freud claimed last year that the rapid expansion in food banks was being driven by people who wanted a free meal, and not by growing poverty and hunger.
And the Tory’s work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, said in February that food banks provide a “good service” but claimed they had become “hopelessly politicised”.
The Trussell Trust, the UK’s largest food bank network, claims static incomes, rising living costs, low pay, underemployment and problems with welfare, especially sanctioning, are significant drivers of the increased demand.
Eighty-three percent of Trussell Trust food banks surveyed reported that the government’s benefits sanctions have caused more people to be referred to them for emergency food, with half of referrals to foodbanks in 2013-14 the result of benefit delays or changes.
However, the Trust’s chairman has warned that the gloomy figures are just ‘”the tip of the iceberg” of UK food poverty.
Chris Mould said: “That 900,000 people have received three days’ food from a food bank, close to triple the numbers helped last year, is shocking in 21st century Britain.
“But perhaps most worrying of all this figure is just the tip of the iceberg of UK food poverty, it doesn’t include those helped by other emergency food providers, those living in towns where there is no food bank, people who are too ashamed to seek help or the large number of people who are only just coping by eating less and buying cheap food.”
And while the amount of users has swelled by 163%, there has only been a 45% increase in the number of Trussell Trust food banks opening in the last year.
The Trust has launched over 400 food banks across the UK.
Food banks that have been open for three years or more have seen an average increase of 51% in numbers helped in 2013-14 compared to 2012-13.
The Trussell Trust says its figures reinforce evidence from a recent government-commissioned DEFRA report that increased food bank use is not a question of supply, but of meeting a real and growing need.
Increasingly, Trussell Trust foodbanks are partnering with other agencies to provide additional services such as welfare advice, budgeting help and debt support at the food bank, helping people to break out of crisis. They are also providing essentials like washing powder, nappies and hygiene products to families who are at breaking point.
Oxfam’s head of UK poverty programme, Rachael Orr, said: “The fact that the number of people forced to turn to food banks has doubled in the last year and the situation is worsening for people in poverty is deeply worrying.
“Food banks and the thousands of people who support them are doing an impressive job in helping stop people from going hungry, but the truth is that in a country as rich as the UK there should not be food poverty at all. The Government needs to provide adequate support to the poorest in society and urgently tackle the low incomes and rising bills that are leaving people hungry.”
Mr Mould added: “In the last year we’ve seen things get worse, rather than better, for many people on low-incomes. It’s been extremely tough for a lot of people, with parents not eating properly in order to feed their children and more people than ever experiencing seemingly unfair and harsh benefits sanctions.
“Unless there is determined policy action to ensure that the benefits of national economic recovery reach people on low-incomes we won’t see life get better for the poorest anytime soon.
“A more thoughtful approach to the administration of the benefits regime and sanctions in particular, increasing the minimum wage, introducing the living wage and looking at other measures such as social tariffs for essentials like energy would help to address the problem of UK hunger.