More houses for rent - but who is paying

The SNP government has announced plans to buy up 2000 houses that private developers can't sell - using money that local councils will borrow.  But the £200m cost of the scheme has to come out of someone's pocket and it looks like local councils may be forced to pick up the bill - while the government gets all the credit.  The houses would be sold and the funds put back to councils when the house market picks up.  A new body would be responsible for managing these properties - but why set-up a new Quango, when Housing Associations could do this?

Co-incidentally Housing Associations have been told that their funding for new permanent homes for rent will be £200m less next year .....

See press article for more information.
Posted by Debra Storr at Monday, November 23, 2009

3 comments:

  1. So the council are to buy houses to rent out i assume. Can i ask, then why the houses they rent out at present do not conform to the HMO's they force on private landlords. They seem to want their cake and to eat it too.
    There is already a council body to look after homes is there not. That is the council, after all they already have council houses and people used to be able to rent then buy. I do not understand this need to waste more public money setting up a new body, and there is no need to involve a housing association. But neither housing associations or the council properties adhere to the HMO's. Something very wrong there i think.
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  2. Neil,
    if you'd read the press article, you'd have seen that the Government is proposing buying the houses and renting them via a new body -the National Housing Trust.

    I agree this new Quango is unnecessary - but my main point was, in these days of financial strain and with council budgets under severe pressure, it is difficult to see how councils are to fund this.
    ReplyDelete
  3. This could make the council money, but it is more likely to make a lose as the council seem to do from time to time.Long term investments in Buy-to-Let is usually a good thing. But this kinda stinks of bailing out the builders. I will be interested to no what sort of deal they get on these houses.And also what kind of builders guarantee they get.
    ReplyDelete

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