Plymouth City Council to spend £10m buying homes in city to ease housing crisis
Plymouth City Council could buy up properties in the city as part of a solution to its housing crisis.
It's proposed spending £10m and has applied for an additional £5m Affordable Homes Programme grant from Homes England to buy the properties.
It has said the money would provide desperately needed homes for rought sleepers in Plymouth and would help tackle budget pressures caused by the rising demand for temporary accommodation in the city.
Councillor Chris Penberthy, cabinet member for housing, cooperative development and communities, said: "The situation is desperate. Plymouth is experiencing a record amount of people approaching the Council for housing support.
“We are now seeing families with jobs, with children, who find themselves simply unable to find a place to live. Landlords are selling up in record numbers, mortgages are going through the roof as well as rent.
"We have been talking to property agents and for every home that comes up to rent, there are over 100 enquiries."
The council says demand for temporary accommodation in the city has risen 158% since 2019/20, with 413 households now applying - up from 160 four years ago.
It comes as the number of social housing lets has dropped by 36% over the last five years, according to the council.
This means the number of households in significant need of an affordable home (a band B or C property) now outstrips supply by 2,575 in 2022/23, the council added.
The new proposals being laid out suggest spending £10 million and applying for a Homes England grant of between £3 and £5 million, to cover the cost of acquiring new properties.
"As well as providing homes, investing in properties could reduce the amount the Council spends on temporary accommodation by over £1 million a year", Cllr Penberthy added.
“We are in this insane situation where the average annual cost of a B and B room is £21,797. That’s a room – not a flat or a house – and it’s a room that no one wants to be in.
“If we buy properties and rent them out, these will not only create homes for Plymouth families who have been made homeless but will massively reduce the amount of money we have to spend on B and Bs and other temporary accommodation such as hotels.
"We need to take decisive action to address this problem.”
The council has said that spending on B and B's is having a significant impact, with officers now forecasting £2.4m of pressure in the next financial year.
Plymouth City Council: 'We have to do something as this is just awful for families'
Councillor Mark Lowry, cabinet member for finance added: “This is a sensible way to make people’s lives better and to help tackle a budget pressure which will only get worse.
"We have to do something as this is just awful for families caught in this situation.
"You are talking about families living in single rooms, with no access to cooking facilities, very little privacy and no space.”
"The Council has developed an acquisitions strategy and will work closely with developers and registered social landlords. The aim is to look at new builds in the first instance as this would not affect the existing housing stock.
"In the long term, it is expected that these properties will become available for general social housing. If successful with the grant application, Homes England will fund a proportion of the purchase price, however, the houses will be 100 per cent council-owned."