Cost of living crisis: 'Housing emergency' as over 300 social homes lost in Peterborough in last decade

More than 300 social homes have been lost in Peterborough in the last decade, according to Department for Levelling Up.

251 social housing properties were built in Peterborough in the ten years to March 2022 – but none have been built in the last year.

However, 547 social homes were sold and 29 demolished across Peterborough over the same ten-year period.

This means – when taking into account the number of homes built and subtracting those sold and demolished over the past ten years – the area has lost a total of 325 social homes in the last decade.

The “lack of genuinely affordable homes” has been called a “housing emergency” by a leading housing charity.

Social housing is housing provided to people on low incomes or with particular needs.

It includes both low-cost rental and home ownership provided by local authority landlords and private registered providers.

194,000 social homes lost

Across England, 194,000 social homes were sold in the ten years to March 2022, and 55,000 were demolished.

84,000 were built over the same period – resulting in a net loss of 165,000 social homes.

[These figures do not include sales for low-cost homeownership]

Over 5,000 on waiting list

It comes as 5,825 were on local authority waiting lists for social housing in Peterborough, and 1.2 million people across England, according to Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, figures.

Polly Neate, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said the “social housing deficit is at the heart of the housing emergency”.

“We lose far more homes than we build every year, and the losses are mounting up,” she said.

“The fundamental lack of genuinely affordable homes has pushed millions of people into insecure, expensive and often discriminatory private renting.

"The Government can’t afford to allow this decline to stretch into another decade if it has any hopes of meaningfully levelling up.

"Instead, it must invest in a new generation of the homes we really need – secure, genuinely social housing.”

Cost of living crisis

Recent research by independent think tank the Resolution Foundation found that nearly one in five social renters have fallen behind on their housing costs this winter.

It comes as nearly half of social renters (48 per cent) reported being unable to afford to switch the heating on when needed, the researchers found.

A spokesperson for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, said: “Increasing the number of genuinely affordable homes is central to our levelling up mission.

“Since 2010 we have delivered over 620,000 affordable homes in England, including over 160,000 for social rent.

“But there is much more to do and that is why we’re investing £11.5 billion to build more of the affordable, quality homes this country needs."

Peterborough City Council has been approached for a comment.