Bristol Council could create innovative new housing company
Bristol City Council has approved moving towards a new housing company, which will become a Registered Provider (housing association), to help tackle the city's housing crisis.
Councillor Tom Renhard, Cabinet Member for Housing Delivery and Homelessness, said: “One of the biggest interventions that we can make to improve people’s lives in the city is providing a safe and secure home. More than 12,500 new homes had been built by April 2023, with another 3,000 under construction as of then, and plans for over 3,000 new council homes by 2029.
“We’re working to continue tackling the housing crisis, which includes addressing affordability in the private rented sector and the need for more temporary accommodation and supported housing.
“Long waiting lists for our existing supported housing, and limited move-on options for people ready to leave their supported housing, often see people placed into more expensive and out-of-area settings. After almost fourteen years of national austerity, and increasing pressure on councils all over the country, including Bristol, something needs to change.
“Creating a second council-owned housing company could help us support many of those vulnerable people by expanding the supply for high quality, local temporary accommodation and supported housing, while saving up to £10 million a year. It can also help us to address affordability challenges for those renting privately where the national government has failed to do so. As we develop a Full Business Case, we will be doing our due diligence to assess suitability and the best way to realise benefits for the city and taxpayers. A final decision to implement this will be made later this year under the coming committee system.”
Bristol does not currently have enough temporary accommodation and supported housing provided by social landlords, forcing the council to use expensive private sector temporary accommodation. This challenge is coupled with the use of out-of-area residential and specialist care placements for adults with care needs and young people leaving care, due to a shortage of those places too.
Over the last year, Bristol City Council has worked with a range of Registered Providers and specialist housing partners in the city to increase the targeted supply of housing to address this need. We will together be launching a Supported Housing Delivery Plan to deliver more more homes of this type. The administration welcomes the pipeline of some 300 new supported housing units being developed, including temporary housing with support for homeless households, housing for young people, and supported housing for adults with learning disabilities.
Outside of London, Bristol has the fourth highest number of people housed in temporary accommodation, with over 1,500 households currently. Demand has increased by 87 per cent since the pandemic. National Government provides some subsidy to the cost of temporary accommodation, but estimates set out that the council could, through the new company, save around £10 million a year after costs. Additionally, around 200 units of Bristol City Council’s social housing are currently being used for temporary accommodation and supported housing.
