February is always a busy month for housing associations as we prepare our budgets for the coming financial year. This year, however, should be particularly concerning for those on council waiting lists.

For many housing associations including my own, earnings are insufficient to cover costs and interest.

No business can sustain this for long. It goes without saying that this has grave consequences for the supply of affordable housing – which is already woefully below the 90,000 net additional social rented homes experts agree is required each year to keep pace with need. Add to this last week’s news that three times as many social homes were sold or demolished in 2022-23 as were built – and it’s clear that the housing crisis is set to get a whole lot worse.