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Private landlords the "only answer" to housing time bomb
30th October 2007
Thousands of people who are unable to afford to get onto the housing ladder could be left out in the cold if housing associations fail to persuade private landlords to come forward in enough numbers to rent out their properties.
The warning comes as the number of repossessed homes looks set to increase to levels not seen since the 1990s house price crash.
As the Council of Mortgage Lenders warns the number of repossessions is set to rise by 50 per cent next year, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to face a homes crunch.
A surge in the number of private landlords releasing their properties into the affordable housing sector is a vital way to defuse this growing housing time bomb according to one leading East of England Housing Association.
East of England based Colne Housing is urging private landlords with properties to let to join an innovative new scheme to defuse the growing housing crisis in Essex and Suffolk.
Chief Executive Mark Powell Davies said: “The housing market is facing its greatest challenge for many years; we need to persuade far more local landlords to come forward and play a much greater role in addressing housing needs.
“We are concerned that as more people will increasingly be unable to juggle family finances and interest rates rise, the demand for affordable housing can only go on increasing...
“Local authorities do not any longer have sufficient council houses, and housing associations are not developing at a fast enough rate to meet the needs. We need the private sector to work with us to vastly increase the numbers of rented properties.”
Last year keys were handed in at more than 17,000 homes nationally - nearly three times as many as the previous year and the highest figure since 2000.
Colne Housing’s consultant behind a new and pioneering scheme, the Safe Haven Project, Karen Langford, says that without greater private landlords’ involvement, local authorities will simply not have enough properties in the future to fulfil their statutory duties.
Says Karen: “Local authorities have fewer and fewer of their own properties now and people are still coming on to their lists; the shortfall is getting worse each year.
“The tenants may be homeless people, key workers or people who have just registered with the local authority but they all need a home of their own and the key to unlocking this demand is with the private landlords.
“We believe that private landlords will need to play a much larger part in providing these homes.
“We’ve conducted extensive research among landlords who have been very positive and enthusiastic. By leasing properties from the private sector, we can provide much-needed accommodation for people who are desperately seeking new homes.”
Colne Housing’s new Safe Haven Project works in partnership with landlords and local authorities, with the help of a grant from the Housing Corporation, to provide people in temporary accommodation or on housing waiting lists with longer-term tenancies.
The scheme is one of the first of its kind in the East of England and is likely to be rolled out regionally and nationally.
Karen Langford says the Colne Housing Safe Haven scheme provides private landlords with a guaranteed regular income for a period of time up to six years, provided they tie up with local authorities.
In the Safe Haven project, the landlords’ properties are managed by Colne Housing with no management fee and no enrolment fee for tenants.
The Safe Haven Project has been a year in development with Colne Housing working with councils including Babergh, Braintree, Colchester, Ipswich, Maldon, Mid Suffolk, Suffolk Coastal and Tendring, as well as the Housing Corporation.
A ‘toolkit’ has been developed containing legal, financial, marketing and risk management materials and is available as a CD-rom from Colne Housing on (01206) 244700 or via the Safe Haven website, www.safehavenproject.org.uk. Landlords can contact Colne’s Business and Commercial Manager Richard Jones from further information.
Colchester-based Colne Housing, established in 1973, now owns or manages over 2000 affordable homes throughout North Essex. See www.colnehousing.co.uk.
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