We have to make it better
Because of Capital Letters’ unique pan London scope and experience we have seen the issues facing both our member London boroughs, and the families that we help out of homelessness and Temporary Accommodation (TA), at first hand.
We have been campaigning on behalf of our members and the tenants that we support to try and change the system since 2019.
The National Audit Office (NAO) report into the last Governments Homelessness approach has simply told us what we already know.
We know that “periodically capping and freezing the Local Housing Allowance (LHA)” affects council budgets and the move on rate from TA.
We know that “a lack of housing for social rent (that is, at a cost well below typical market prices) is a driver of homelessness, since households are instead pushed into the private rented sector which is typically more expensive and provides a less secure tenancy. The ending of a private rented sector assured shorthold tenancy is one of the biggest drivers of homelessness, accounting for around 23% of households owed a prevention or relief duty in Quarter 3, 2023-24.”
We know that “[a] lack of housing for social rent limits the routes out of homelessness for households who find themselves in temporary accommodation, as local authorities often cannot find them private rented sector properties in the local area that are affordable.”
And our response is….
We have to make it better.
We could give a long response about seeing just 0.8% of homes in London being even advertised at LHA rates let alone being let at that rate – with 17 people bidding for each property there’s little to no chance of that… We could share the experiences of our member boroughs, who, because of the rising, unaffordable rents are seeing more and more new homeless families in addition to those who are already trapped in Temporary Accommodation (TA). They are now using, on average 61% of their total housing budgets on TA; collectively London boroughs are spending a whopping £90m a month on TA. It’s unsustainable.
First and foremost, there’s not enough homes of any tenure, but the most acute problem is the lack of social rent, affordable rent, or LHA rate rent. The poorest in society are feeling the effects of limited investment in too many aspects of their lives, from the reduction in SureStart centres to housing.
Capital Letters should not need to exist.
In a perfect world, where everyone has access to the housing they need, and can afford, we wouldn’t exist. But the issues facing housing in the UK and especially London are going to take generations to fix, and we will be here trying to change the model, trying to make housing in London affordable for those who need it with our unique partnerships and investments helping Londoners find safe, secure, and affordable homes.
Because a home changes everything.