Local Councils and Eastlight Community Homes urge the Government to act now on housing – before it gets worse

The Region’s Councils (East of England LGA – EELGA) and Eastlight Community Homes have published the second of their reports on the impacts of housing on the East of England, and the pressing importance of addressing housing and infrastructure development.

The report, “Act Now, Before It Gets Worse”, was sent to the Deputy Prime Minister in an open letter here on 20 September 24 and outlines the key challenges being faced by the region with regards to housing and infrastructure. These include an underinvestment in social housing in the face of a growth in population and a lack of investment in enabling infrastructure and climate change mitigation.

Cllr Stephen Robinson, Vice Chair of EELGA and Leader of Chelmsford City Council, said “In many parts of the Region we have a housing crisis. Lack of affordable housing (and the infrastructure to go with it) is putting the brakes on economic growth in the East of England. Thousands of families are in deeply unsuitable, temporary accommodation, which costs taxpayers vast sums of money and damages the life chances of those children”.

“We urge the Government to act decisively to help councils and housing associations in the East of England build genuinely affordable homes.”

The barriers outlined are inhibiting economic growth in the East of England, while also contributing to unfavourable housing outcomes for the region’s residents. These concerns were also raised with Baroness Taylor of Stevenage,  Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Lords Minister for Housing and Local Government) by EELGA in a recent meeting at Westminster.

The report suggests that if the government is serious about addressing housing in the East of England, it must do the following:

• Provide funding for local authorities and partners to be innovative in the acquisition and development of land for affordable housing
• The provision of a multi-year and continuous settlement for the provision of social rent, to enable Registered Providers of social housing to plan and invest with certainty.
• Reform the Infrastructure Levy to ensure it does not compete with affordable housing funding.
• Invest in key infrastructure, including adaption and mitigation against climate change, skills provision, and investment towards health outcomes.

Local authorities in the East of England are waiting to see what will be contained in the Long-Term Housing Strategy, which is due to be published alongside the budget on 30 October.

It also follows an earlier housing report published by EELGA, Eastlight Community Homes, and the East of England All Party Parliamentary group focussed on the short-term impacts of the housing crisis, including homelessness and the crippling cost of temporary accommodation on local authorities.