Asked by: Mike Kane (Labour - Wythenshawe and Sale East)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what change there has been in the level of arrears in the social housing sector since April 2013.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Global Accounts of Housing Providers, published by the Homes and Communities Agency, has estimated that rent arrears were 5.1% in 2009-10, 5.1% in 2010-11, 4.8% in 2011-12 and 4.8% in 2012-13. These figures are for private registered providers of social housing (primarily housing associations). Data for 2013-14 will be available in Spring 2015.
My Department does not centrally hold arrears information on individual housing associations. Figures on local authority social housing rent arrears can be found on my Department’s website at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-housing-data (for up to 2012-13).
The Homes and Communities Agency also publishes quarterly reports based on a survey of larger providers. This reported that rent arrears were 4% at the end of 2013-14. Their latest report states: “Most providers (91%) continue to report that the current level of arrears, rent collection and voids are within or outperforming their business plans” (Quarterly Survey of Private Registered Providers 2014-15, Quarter 1); the reports paint a broad picture of stability in income collection.
In this context, the claims previously made by HM Opposition about the effects of the removal of the spare room subsidy were unfounded. The removal of the spare room subsidy is estimated to save £490 million of taxpayers' money in Great Britain in 2013-14, reducing the housing benefit bill and helping pay off the budget deficit left by the last Administration. The measure also encourages the more effective use of social housing, by addressing the under-occupation of family homes.