Unlike other forms of economic infrastructure, social housing lacks consistent public monitoring regarding its delivery and long-term affordability, according to a letter published in The Guardian today. A home is often deemed affordable at the point of planning permission, with little subsequent examination through completion or changes in tenure.
The letter notes that service charges can render homes unaffordable within months of occupation, citing previous reporting on shared ownership. While local authorities, such as Southwark, publish financial contributions from developers, they often do not provide scheme-level accounts of whether promised social rented homes were actually built.
An example given is Elephant and Castle, where residents reportedly spent three years using freedom of information requests to uncover viability evidence. This revealed 82 social rented homes were delivered instead of over a thousand, by which time the estate had been demolished.
The author suggests that if social homes are considered economic infrastructure, they should have public, dated records detailing what was promised, what was delivered, and the costs associated with living in them.