Housing associations call for £3 rent convergence rate following new report on value of social tenancies

A group of major housing associations have urged the government to reintroduce rent convergence at £3 per week to support the building and maintenance of new homes.

The call to action comes after research commissioned by Hyde, MTVH and The Guinness Partnership estimated that the value of each social tenancy in England amounts to nearly £30,000 a year through savings to public services and financial opportunities for residents.

This would mean that the government’s plan to build 180,000 social rent homes via its £39bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme would contribute roughly £5.4bn per year to the national economy.

The report by Jim Clifford, honorary professor at Sheffield Hallam University, and his team at Sonnet Advisory & Impact, calculated the savings to the state and benefits to other public bodies, such as the NHS and local authorities, of someone living in social housing, compared to someone living in temporary accommodation, with family and friends or in private rental accommodation.

>> See also: Rent convergence is essential for decent homes

>> See also: LGA calls for ‘minimum’ £2 a week rent convergence with flexibilities for further increases

Catriona Simons, group chief executive at The Guinness Partnership, said: “The research shows the extent to which good quality social housing can significantly improve physical and mental wellbeing. This helps to reduce the burden on public healthcare - saving the NHS an estimated £691m and local authorities £365.5m a year.”

As well as the confirmation of rent convergence, the organisations have called for the delivery of the full promised £13.2bn funding to support the new Warm Homes Fund, alongside setting “simple and predictable” requirements for the new Decent Homes Standard to increase the value of social housing.

They have also lobbied for the removal of the two-child benefit cap to reduce poverty and have called for the fair distribution of grant rates to support housing associations’ social housing delivery and reduce reliance on temporary accommodation.

The new research builds on the ’Value of a Social Tenancy’ report, originally published in 2018 by Hyde and Sonnet.