Help and support needed for "forgotten families"
- 29 Aug
Housing charity Shelter says that more needs to be done to support "forgotten families" in England.
Shelter believe that a multibillion-pound programme to build shared ownership properties is needed to help the 1.8 million "forgotten families" in England. This is due to three-quarters of households earning £20,000 to £40,000 are now unable to buy a family-sized home and with a lack of social housing, they are facing having to rent privately or being stuck on the first rung of the property ladder.
Even after the second part of the Help to Buy scheme begins next year, Shelter says that three in four families will still be unable to raise enough money to buy an average three-bedroom home.
The charity has said that these families now need a "game-changing offer" which could be built on the shared ownership model, meaning that buyers co-own a property with a housing association. This differs from traditional schemes as new shared ownership properties should have prices pegged to local markets. It will be available to families who can afford a 12% share, have consistent eligibility criteria and long-term political backing and be linked directly to a new supply of homes.
If the there is a government investment of £12bn in the scheme, 600,000 shared ownership homes could be built which is enough to give almost half of England's private renting families the opportunity to buy. A new generation of shared ownership would allow families to find an affordable home of their own with an estate agent or mortgage lender from the high street.
Shelter found that if the current trend continues then 25% of families on low or middle incomes will be privately renting by 2020, with many more likely to be stuck on the first rung of the ladder in homes that are too small for their families.
Kay Boycott, director of campaigns and policy at Shelter, said: "Building the new shared ownership homes we desperately need is the only way to give thousands of families a stake in the stable home they want at a price they can afford.
"So far, years of piecemeal policies and an alphabet soup of confusing schemes have meant that shared ownership has failed to reach its potential, leaving it nowhere close to meeting the needs of England's forgotten families. But for the many young people desperate to do what generations have before them and find a stable home of their own, a national shared ownership programme is the bold and radical solution we need."
"Every day, Shelter's housing advisers see the consequences of our growing housing shortage, from those not knowing where they'll sleep that night to families struggling to pay their rent or mortgage. However, shared ownership won't work for everyone, and we need a mix of new homes, including desperately-needed new social housing."
Image Source: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1428066
Related articles
- 20 Apr
CHARITY WORKS TOWARDS A NATIONAL PLAN TO END HOMELESSNESS
Prime minister, Theresa May and the first ministers of Scotland and Wales congratulated "Crisis" on its anniversary and gave an assurance to work hand in hand with them while on a quest to eradicate...
- 30 Jan
THE FATE OF EU-FUNDED PROJECTS AND ITS EFFECT ON CHARITY SERVICES
In March 2016, forecasts of growth were low and the government's own estimates put the Treasury's coffers £122bn poorer by 2020.The supreme court has also determined that MPs must approve the...
- 15 Jun
INCREASE IN THREATS OF EVICTIONS FROM HOMES
After analysing statistics from the Ministry of Justice, the housing charity (Shelter) found the following:In the past year, the number of people seeking advice from 'Shelter' on their eviction...
- 07 Jun
CHARITIES, THEIR BRANDS, BENEFICIARIES AND HOW TO EFFECT CHANGE
"Most charities exist because their founders believed the future could be different if they mobilised supporters", but Mandy Johnson of the Guardian believes"This vision is being lost."Charities are...
- 17 Apr
Support for veterans to return to work
Places for People hopes to support veterans into the workplace and also benefit from the skills and experience they have to offer, reports 24dash.All veterans applying for jobs in Places for People's...
- 26 Jan
Charity registers as social landlord
It has now registered its housing department as a housing association, Inside Housing reports.The charity set up Golden Lane Housing (GLH) in 1998, which has now registered to be a social landlord...
- 14 Jan
Charity to develop app for people with disabilities
The funding will enable the charity to develop and test the free app, called FlyCatcher, which could be on the market by 2016.The app uses iBeacon technology to send information through smartphones...
- 14 Jan
Young people’s health harmed by fuel poverty
The Department of Energy and Climate Change have reported that 10% of households in England were in fuel poverty.The charity, Turn2us have stated that 75% of the 2,060 adults in the PRS who were...
- 08 Jan
Homelessness in Scotland
Shelter Scotland stated that this percentage is ‘disproportionate' to the sector's size which makes up 13% of all housing in Scotland, Inside Housing reports. It was also mentioned that the number...
- 07 Jan
Homelessness an ‘increasing trend’ in Wales
Cais blames the lack of options available to individuals due to the change in the type of support that can be offered.The Chief Executive of Cais, Clive Wolfendale has described the problem of...
Responding to the DWP Consultation: Housing Benefit Reform - Supported Housing "It was well-run, in a good location, and very useful. I've only one suggestion; as the session went on it would perhaps have been useful for bullet points of general agreement about what should be in the sector response to be displayed and added to as the session went on, maybe on a flip chart. Regarding your response paper, I particularly like the answer you give to question 9. In fact the general: "if it ain't broke don't fix it" response could be pushed harder." M.P. - Adref Ltd
