It would take 24 years to rehouse everyone hit by the bedroom tax in the east of England who needs a one bedroom home even if a third of those properties were set aside for them each year, a study has found.
The report by Cambridge University’s Centre for Housing and Planning Research, for the East 7 group of housing associations in the region, found it would still take eight years to rehouse all those under-occupying who need a one bedroom property if almost every vacant one bed home was allocated to them.
It would take the region’s councils almost 23 years to clear their waiting lists if they adopted this approach.
The report, Social housing in the east: challenges for the region and implications for the UK, assumed that 10 per cent of one and two bedroom vacancies went to households on council waiting lists.
The report concluded many tenants would ‘pay to stay’, spending an average of £14 a week, while awaiting a transfer.
A 24-year wait would cost them £17,472.
It also predicted that housing associations would try to reduce the risk of rent arrears by allocating more of their properties to households in work rather than those dependent on benefits.
Councils would then end up housing more vulnerable people in the private rented sector.
The report said: ‘It is clear that the problem of under-occupation cannot be solved within any realistic timescale by transferring under-occupying tenants to smaller properties. There are not enough relets becoming available even if virtually no lettings went to households in need from waiting lists.
‘Housing associations will need to strike a balance between increasing the proportion of smaller units allocated to under-occupying tenants downsizing and still rehousing households in pressing need from the waiting list.’
Inside Housing
The report by Cambridge University’s Centre for Housing and Planning Research, for the East 7 group of housing associations in the region, found it would still take eight years to rehouse all those under-occupying who need a one bedroom property if almost every vacant one bed home was allocated to them.
It would take the region’s councils almost 23 years to clear their waiting lists if they adopted this approach.
The report, Social housing in the east: challenges for the region and implications for the UK, assumed that 10 per cent of one and two bedroom vacancies went to households on council waiting lists.
The report concluded many tenants would ‘pay to stay’, spending an average of £14 a week, while awaiting a transfer.
A 24-year wait would cost them £17,472.
It also predicted that housing associations would try to reduce the risk of rent arrears by allocating more of their properties to households in work rather than those dependent on benefits.
Councils would then end up housing more vulnerable people in the private rented sector.
The report said: ‘It is clear that the problem of under-occupation cannot be solved within any realistic timescale by transferring under-occupying tenants to smaller properties. There are not enough relets becoming available even if virtually no lettings went to households in need from waiting lists.
‘Housing associations will need to strike a balance between increasing the proportion of smaller units allocated to under-occupying tenants downsizing and still rehousing households in pressing need from the waiting list.’
Inside Housing
