A commitment to end years of insecurity for families stuck on housing waiting lists, was today backed by the Prime Minister with £409m.
The Mayor of the West Midlands said the money, which is a result of a partnership with the Government and Homes England, would be used alongside his own housing funds to build thousands more homes that were genuinely affordable for local people.
Since taking office in May 2024, the Mayor has overseen the biggest social housing programme the West Midlands has experienced in decades, setting a target for the region to be building 2,000 social rent homes a year by 2028.
Latest figures show he contracted a record 7,237 new homes in the last year. That is more than ten times the annual 623 average achieved before he took office.
Of the new homes, 2,452 were affordable, including 1,086 for social rent, the most affordable type of housing.
Reacting to the Prime Minister’s announcement, the Mayor said: “For decades there’s been a chronic underinvestment in council homes and genuinely affordable housing - and it’s left us with the housing crisis we face today.
“I believe people deserve better, which is why my focus has been on fixing the mistakes of the past and rebuilding our housing stock.
“We've already started turning around years of underinvestment in social housing but the Prime Minister’s announcement today will see us work together as a region and take this social housing mission to the next level.
“Nearly 15,000 children in our region are living in temporary accommodation. I want that number coming down and I want it coming down quickly.
“When you listen to the experiences of people in temporary accommodation or stuck on housing waiting lists you realise just how much their lives are blighted by not having a secure and decent home.
“We will change that by giving people the housing stability and security they need to get on in life.”
The West Midlands currently has 7,450 households, including 14,976 children, living in temporary accommodation, costing local councils tens of millions of pounds a year in additional housing costs.
A further 65,335 households are on social housing waiting lists, with some forced to pay sky-high rents for often poor-quality private accommodation.
The Mayor has heard first-hand from people whose lives have been transformed by having a safe and secure home.
David Hopper, 42, told the Mayor how he had been homeless for two and a half years following the death of his mother and a family fallout.
His situation was made worse by his own health problems and the loss of his job as a toolmaker during the pandemic. He lives in a Midland Heart social rent apartment off Holyhead Road in Coventry.
David said: “It’s changed my life. I was homeless while trying to deal with my own health problems, losing my mum, and my job. I was trying to rebuild my life and kept failing because I couldn’t move on without my own home.
“I now have one less thing to worry about and this is going to give me the strength to go forward. It feels like everything’s coming together.”
Mother-of-three Sunita Kaur Singh moved into her Midland Heart social rent house after spending much of the last 20 years in temporary accommodation trying to escape an abusive ex-partner.
Sunita said: “Moving from place to place, going from temporary accommodation to women’s refuges and back into temporary accommodation, is absolutely heartbreaking.
“When I first stepped into this place, I was overwhelmed and broke down in tears, I was so happy I had finally got somewhere. Getting this house feels like the answer to all my prayers. I am so happy. I never want to move from here.”
The £400m announced today is the first funding to be released from the region's £1.7bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme which runs until March 2035 and will see at least 10,000 affordable new homes built across the region over the decade.
The Mayor, working with Homes England, will also, for the first time, be able to shape the way the region delivers its programme by setting out ambitious plans for the types of homes that get built and which sites should be prioritised for construction.
He will continue to work with all social and affordable housing providers who can help address the region’s needs.
The funding will contribute towards the region's £3.8bn Futures Fund which brings together money and backing from major public organisations, including the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), the West Midlands Pension Fund, Homes England, National Wealth Fund and other national investment bodies to speed up regeneration, build more affordable homes and create jobs
Comments
Add a comment