Portsmouth warns of housing cuts as government faces calls for action

Toby Paine
Portsmouth City Council has raised fears over a survey that found two-thirds of council housing budgets are “on the brink of collapse.”

The survey, conducted by Southwark Council with participation from 75 local authorities, revealed that nine in ten council housing budgets are “under financial stress".

It also showed that 71 per cent of councils expect to cancel, pause, or delay housing projects, 68 per cent plan to scale back commitments to build or redevelop council homes, and 28 per cent may sell existing properties to balance their budgets.

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Despite these measures, 67 per cent of councils warned they could struggle to set a balanced budget.

Southwark Council leader Cllr Keiron Williams stressed the importance of the government’s target to build 1.5m homes to address the housing crisis but warned that achieving this would require “significant further action.”

Portsmouth City Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing, Cllr Darren Sanders, said that while Portsmouth is in a better financial position than many councils, it still faces challenges in meeting tenants’ needs.

He explained that rent income is legally required to be spent on housing services and that balancing the budget would require a 5 per cent rent increase.

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“The government’s rent cap - plus its refusal to compensate our housing revenue account for its rise in national insurance - means we have difficult choices to make relating to the services we can provide and the maintenance programme we would wish to follow,” he said.

Cllr Sanders also criticised the lack of government grants for delaying the construction of urgently needed homes. “Government grants are insufficient to support councils to build new homes like the ones to replace the former Leamington and Horatia Houses in Somerstown, delaying further the much-needed homes our city needs,” he added.

A council spokesperson confirmed they expect to pause, delay, or prioritise key projects but do not plan to cancel them. They also stated they are considering scaling back some projects but do not anticipate selling off existing homes.

A spokesperson for the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government responded: “This government will deliver 1.5m homes as part of our Plan for Change, including the biggest social housing boost in a generation, and we will work with councils to achieve this.

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“We know that local government has suffered from years of short-term decisions, which is why we have already set out important steps to help them deliver the homes we need.

“That includes overdue reforms to the Right to Buy scheme and an extra £500m for the Affordable Homes Programme, and we will soon set out further measures.”

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