‘Social housing sell-off plan worse for older, disabled Britons’
The high-value social housing sell-off plan in England has sparked angry reactions from campaigners which they say could affect older and disabled people in the country.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has called on ministers to rethink about the Housing and Planning Bill which is yet to be approved by the House of Lords.
If the bill is passed, local authorities will be compelled to sell high-value properties once vacant. Under the plan, some 15,300 council-owned bungalows in England will be sold off by 2021.
The government says the bill is aimed at making more people as home owners. But campaigners say the increasing reliance on costly, insecure tenancies in the private-rented sector to house families on low incomes will only serve to trap more people in poverty.
“The housing bill would reduce the number of affordable homes at a time of an acute housing crisis,” Brian Robson, from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said.
"We risk holding a great British bungalow sell-off that will make things worse for older and disabled tenants who are trying to find suitable, affordable accommodation," he added.
The Foundation says high-demand bungalows and sheltered housing must be exempted in line with Northern Ireland, where councils are not forced to sell such properties under a similar initiative.
A report prepared by the Foundation with the help of Cambridge University researchers shows a high demand for bungalows. It says such properties are almost three times likely to be sold off and would be harder to replace because of the amount of land needed.
According to the report, one in five older people currently lives in a bungalow. This figure rises to one in four when there is someone sick or disabled in an older person's household.
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