Petition: introduce a bill to get councils building social homes again

Decision maker: Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Housing 

Sign the petition today: get councils building social homes to stop children growing up homeless 

With record levels of homelessness, including 175,990 children growing up in temporary accommodation, we're calling on the government to introduce a new Get Councils Building Bill at the King's Speech on 13 May. This bill would tackle the barriers that are holding councils back from building the social homes we need.

Social homes provide a foundation where families can put down roots and communities can thrive because they are the only genuinely affordable type of housing. 
 
Housing costs are spiralling. We need a new generation of 90,000 social homes every year so we have more good quality homes that everyone can afford.

The government promised us a council and social housing revolution. They pledged to build a new generation of social homes that everyone could afford.  But, despite these promises, the number of social homes we have is actually falling. We must do things differently. 

We need a Get Councils Building Bill to tackle the barriers that are holding councils back from investing in new social homes. 

Sign this petition today calling on the government to introduce legislation to get councils building again.

• Why do we need more social homes? Record breaking homelessness

  In England, 175,990 children are currently homeless and in temporary accommodation because there aren’t enough homes people can afford - homes at social rent.

  The rents for social homes are the only kind that are genuinely affordable, because they are tied to local people’s incomes. That means it is the most affordable type of rent – usually around half the cost of the private rented sector.

  We will only tackle the record levels of homelessness once and for all if we build the social homes that this country so desperately needs.

   

  • How many social homes are we building? Decades of underinvestment

    In 2023/24, social homes made up just 4.6% of all new homes delivered. In the first year of the Labour government, this had only increased to 5.7%. That is not a social housing revolution.

    Over 2 million social homes have been sold off through right to buy since 1980 and we’re still losing more than we’ve been building. But we can do something different!

    Getting councils building social homes creates certainty. It means that we don’t have to rely on private developers to build social homes and homes for profit.

     

    • What  would a Get Councils Building Bill do?

      We’re calling on the government to deliver on the social homes it promised. To do this, we believe they should urgently bring forward a Get Councils Building Bill.

      To deliver on its promise of a council housing revolution, this bill is needed to tackle the barriers holding councils back from investing in new social homes. We need a bill that puts councils building social housing back at the top of the government’s priorities.

      The bill must set out how the government will:

      • remove the historic housing debt local authorities owe to the government. Councils have around £29 billion in historic housing debt to the government. This is based on an outdated financial settlement from 2012. Paying for this debt sucks away money that could be invested in building new social homes. And it also stops councils from unlocking the financing needed for new developments. The government could remove this debt from councils and put it on its own books without affecting the overall national balance sheet.
      • unlock low-cost finance for council building.  At the moment, the government prevents councils from accessing the low-cost loans they need to build. This puts them at a disadvantage compared to other social landlords (who can get these loans). The government could unlock these loans to get councils building again. Treasury rules also currently disincentivise vital investment in council homes.  The government needs to tweak these Treasury rules so that council housing is treated as vital infrastructure and an investment in our country’s future.
      • support councils to buy land at the low prices needed to build social homes. Councils drove the post-war construction boom because they could buy land through compulsory purchase orders. When they did this, they didn’t have to pay the landowner a big mark up like they do currently. This mark-up is based on what the land could be sold for if it gained planning permission for any future development - including high end development – meaning the land is unaffordable. Our campaigning means councils have this power again, but they need support to put it into practice to build a new generation of council homes. The bill should strengthen this power and support councils to use it to deliver new homes.
      • give local authorities more powers to transform empty homes into social homes. Our research has found that 22,600 long-term empty homes could be transformed into social rent homes over five years, giving families a foundation to thrive. To get there, we need the bill to establish a dedicated long-term empty homes programme with strengthened powers and dedicated funding for councils to breathe new life into empty flats and houses.

       

       

      • Why are we focusing on the King's Speech on 13 May?

        It is a way that we can campaign together for new bills to be introduced into Parliament

        We campaigned for the Renters' Reform Bill to be part of the Queen's Speech back in 2019. This helped push for the new laws that are part of the Renters’ Rights Act that will give 11 million private renters across England more rights and will make renting fairer.

        Let's do the same to get councils building.