It’s Not Our Fault. Again!

You’d be forgiven for thinking that all of Newham’s financial problems are the result of national issues and the policy of the Conservative government.

Newham cites “inflation and the cost of living”, but surely, the increases in the cost of living are the same as inflation. Maybe padding it out makes it sound more impressive.

What they refer to as “the housing crisis” is both the lack of temporary accommodation and the lack of new public sector homes to meet the increased demand. (This is a significant element in the £25m deficit that is projected.)

Shortly after taking office, the new mayor sought to change the allocations policy in line with her priorities. In the words of the Newham website,

“We wanted to make sure it is fairer so that those most in need of social housing are prioritised on the housing waiting list.”

It seems that this policy has had the effect of increasing the demand, a demand that, if they are truthful, will never be assuaged.

“Sadly there are far more people applying for housing than we have properties available to accommodate them.  In fact, in Newham we have more people on our housing list than anywhere else in London.  There are currently (February 2022) over 34,000 households on the waiting list, but only around 600 properties become available each year.”

By increasing the demand and the expectations of applicants, (see the residents of Focus 15/Victoria St), the mayor has opened a floodgate, that will never be closed. The good intentions of widening the criteria has meant that demand has escalated. The consequence of this is that both the financial and the social consequences are damaging. Back in 2019 we covered the sudden increase in the use of B&B accommodation for families by Newham Council.

Put another way there are 600 new offers a year and almost 1800 new applications. There is little wonder that they have to rely upon B&B to house families.

In twenty years, the population of the capital has increased by some 2m. This was not matched by the number of new homes built. 

London council waiting lists  increased from 251,000-302,000 applicants between 2020-2022. Newham alone saw an increase of over 5000 in the same period. 

In Newham the housing waiting list figures showed a net increase of 2000 in the six years between 2012 and 2018. In the four years since, there has been a net increase of 7000. 

The numbers below show the numbers on Newham’s waiting list over 11 years.

We also see the number of new homes started in 2021-22, where, only 40 new council homes were started, (as opposed to 220 HA homes and 470 in the private sector).

Blue: Private

Black: Housing Association

Grey: Council

Newham is far from being the only council in financial difficulties. Nor is it alone in struggling to cope with the demand for subsidised housing. However, some of its woes are entirely of its own making.