‘We need subsidy’ Liverpool housing association boss tells Community Housing Summit as homelessness costs soar

The chief executive of a Liverpool housing association has called on the government to provide more subsidy for social housing development, as the city’s homelessness accommodation costs soar.

Bronwen Rapley, speaking on the first day of the Housing Community Summit in Liverpool, said a “chronic lack of social housing” is ultimately what is preventing housing associations and local authorities from being able to place homeless people in more permanent accommodation.

Liverpool City Council has seen spending on its homelessness duties increase from around £250,000 in 2019, to more than £20m this year.

Rapley, chief executive of 35,000-home landlord Onward Homes, said: “If we’re going to build social homes, we have to have subsidy. That’s a conversation we need to have with the new government about how we can come to a settlement that supports that.”

She said there is potential for more effective use of vacant properties, suggesting voids could be refurbished through a revenue-based lease model, where the cost of refurbishment is covered gradually over time.

However, Rapley noted that this strategy currently poses a significant risk for both the housing association and the council and would require adjustments to the existing rent standards to be feasible.

The session, at the jointly run National Housing Federation and Chartered Institute of Housing event, also saw councillor Sam East outline Liverpool City Council’s 2030 Housing Strategy.

East said that the council’s housing strategy is focused on ensuring “we look after our people and make sure there is a person and a family at the heart of the homelessness case”.

East welcomed the new government, describing it as “sorely needed,” and expressed support for the return of mandatory housing targets during what he called “a time of great challenge” in the housing crisis.

>> See also: ’Enabling people to be their best in a home they love’: Talking growth with Bronwen Rapley

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Nicola Butterworth, corporate director of neighbourhoods and housing at Liverpool City Council, said the homelessness problem facing the city is “vast” but “not unique” to Liverpool, calling for a joined-up approach to the problem.

Liverpool City Council has seen spending on its homelessness duties increase from around £250,000 a few years ago, to over £20m this year. The authority does not have its own housing stock, due to large-scale voluntary transfers to housing associations in the 1990s and 2000s.

As a result, the council is addressing the city’s homelessness crisis through partnerships with local housing associations such as Onward and South Liverpool Homes, policy development, and a place-based approach.

Liverpool City Council finished consulting on its new housing strategy for 2030 on Friday 6 September.

The strategy is aimed at improving the city’s housing offer by 2030. It includes commitments to deliver 2,000 new homes a year, reduce the number of empty properties and tackle homelessness.

Butterworth said the case needs to be made for a spend to save approach, particularly looking at how the council can bring registered provider-owned properties for disposal and voids back into use.

She said that given the scale of spending on temporary accommodation and homelessness “we can certainly find an economic case [to do it], as well it being the right thing to do.”