The Government appears to have made a U-turn and given in to demands from the Labour Party to explore ways of increasing investment in council housing without forcing local authorities to relinquish control of their stock.
In the past, the ODPM has firmly refused to consider extra funding without stock transfer, ALMO, or PFI policies being adopted. This is despite motions being passed at two successive Labour conferences calling for a more level playing field. Currently, the only option available to councils not following one of these three routes is to find the extra investment out of existing funds, since they are barred from borrowing the money on the open market. Defend Council Housing campaigners oppose all three options, claiming it is tantamount to privatisation and leaves tenants vulnerable to rising rents and insecure tenure.
At the Labour Party spring conference, it became clear that the Government has had a change of heart. Following strong lobbying by a group of MPs and grassroots campaigners, a working committee was set up at the Party's policy forum to investigate ways to allow councils to retain their housing stock and still benefit from extra investment needed to improve standards. One of the options could be the community trust model, whereby the housing stock remains in the hands of the council, but is collectively owned by tenants.
Latest statistics show that the number of families and single people waiting to get a council or housing association home reached a record level of 1.5 million - a rise of 450,000 in three years. Factors contributing to the problem include social housing sales, a rise in second home ownership in rural areas, and the shortage of low-cost private housing.
In five authorities, the numbers of families waiting to get a home outstrips the number of council and housing association homes already occupied by tenants. In Sheffield, there are 72,604 people waiting for homes in a city where there are only 62,504 council and housing association properties. In Mansfield, there are 9,784 households on a waiting list in a town where there are 8,975 homes. A similar situation exists in Fylde (2,784 on the waiting list; 2,288 properties), and Restormel (4,702 on the waiting list; 4,299 properties).
There are 354 local authorities, of which 83 have 50% more households on their waiting lists than the number of properties owned by councils or housing associations in the area under their jurisdiction. A large number of these are in rural areas, particularly in the West Country and the Peak District, where second home ownership is a particular problem.
Other towns and cities, which have high waiting lists, are Blackpool, Poole in Dorset, the Isle of Wight, Warrington, Scarborough, Great Yarmouth, Blackburn and Rotherham.
Local authorities with the lowest waiting lists include Barking and Dagenham, North Hertfordshire, and Southwark.