The Week in Housing: more grant funding directed at social rent, and tougher regulation of temporary accommodation needed

Good afternoon.

The issue of how the government directs grant funding under the next Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) is a hot topic at the moment, given the expectation around the multi-year Spending Review in June, and the nearly £3bn that has been ploughed into the current AHP to keep it ticking over.

Labour has yet to set a target for social rent, but has made it clear that boosting this tenure substantially is its ambition. So it was interesting to hear the boss of Homes England confirm that around 60% of the recent top-ups are being spent on social rented homes.

It was a busy week for the government’s housing and regeneration agency, as it also announced the appointment of a new chair, an investment partnership worth £150m for SME house builders and a 10,000-home plan for Plymouth city centre.

Increasing grant for social rent homes is vital if local authorities are to reduce their reliance on temporary accommodation (TA). MPs made a number of recommendations for TA this week, including mandatory inspections, and a notification system so that a child’s school and GP are alerted when they move into this type of housing.

This came after an analysis by the Children’s Commissioner for England revealed how children living in TA and forced to move house regularly achieve worse GCSE results.

One regular Inside Housing commentator described the current state of children in TA as “utterly shameful”.

This pressure on councils to find accommodation was laid bare by new data that showed more than 3,000 children in care in England have been moved over 100 miles from their communities.

With landlords under pressure to deliver homelessness services, Inside Housing launched a new online publication – called Inside Housing Management – aimed at housing officers and other staff in housing management, with a focus on learning and development.

Much of this shared experience was being discussed in Wales this week during the Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru’s annual Tai 2025 conference.

Attendees heard how the Welsh housing workforce has “widespread concern” that the government will miss its affordable housing target.

This is in addition to Welsh local authorities facing significant workforce issues as they get ready to take on the role of building safety regulator.

Both England and Wales published new building safety guidance. The Building Safety Regulator revealed new criteria for developers of higher-risk buildings.

The Welsh government launched a consultation on the next phase of its building control regime for higher-risk buildings, with a focus on new duties for decision-makers and fresh enforcement powers for local authorities.

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