Councillor doubles down on Lambeth’s commitment to tackle housing crisis

Despite funding cuts, a steep increase in homelessness, and a shortage of affordable housing, Lambeth council says tackling the housing crisis remains at the forefront of its agenda.

Speaking to the South London Press, Danny Adilypour, deputy leader and cabinet member for housing, investment and new homes at Lambeth council, said: “Helping to put a roof over the heads of people in real and urgent housing need was one of the main reasons why I became a councillor in the first place.”

But, in recent years, austerity and the cost of living crisis have created an unprecedented demand for council services, whilst London’s local authorities face an estimated £700millon budget gap, according to recent analysis by the Local Government Association.

In the past week alone, almost 160 homeless households approached Lambeth council emergency housing support. They join a long list of the 4,600 families already living in temporary accommodation in the borough.

Cllr Adilypour said: “Despite the limits placed on our powers and cuts to our funding, providing good-quality, affordable social housing for our residents remains one of the most important things we do.”

In March earlier this year, the council set out its New Homes Programme, which aims to deliver a minimum of 500 new affordable homes by 2030 on land owned by the council.

Since 2017, the council and Homes for Lambeth – its wholly owned housing company – have delivered 392 homes on council owned land, 236 for council rent, 32 for affordable rent, and 124 for open market sale. There are currently 135 homes under construction on council land, 109 of which will be council rentals.

Cllr Adilypour said: “But there still aren’t enough genuinely affordable homes in Lambeth for the 40,000 households currently on the borough’s social housing waiting list.”

To make matters worse, in January 2023, the council admitted that thousands of residents were living in council homes with damp and mould hazards.

The same year, Lambeth became the first authority to be inspected in-person by the Housing Ombudsman after it found a “concerning” recurrence of one case, with residents facing mice infestations, collapsed ceilings and mouldy properties.

At the start of 2024 the watchdog published another report concluding that, despite improvements, too many residents were still receiving unacceptable service from the local authority.

Cllr Adilypour said: “Part of our new housing strategy is about addressing these concerns. Our current stock is very old and we are improving that with a new damp and mould charter – a lot of progress has already been made here.

“We’re also improving our communication pathways, responding with swift action and being honest with residents about how and when we can intervene.

“Over the past six months we have seen improvement in our response times and with residents’ satisfaction levels.”

As the Government approaches its first budget announcement, Cllr Adilypour says the council is hopeful.

He said: “Our relationship with the government has totally transformed under Labour. 

“The previous Secretary of State weaponised the government against us. We are already having more transparent conversations and seeing encouraging signs like the relaxing of planning laws.”

But there are still key changes cllr Adilypour wants to see, including an update to housing benefit.

He said: “The housing benefit we can claim back on behalf of someone in temporary accommodation is still set at 2011 rent levels, which does not reflect the reality of these costs. If this was updated to reflect the costs of accommodation today, our overspend would reduce by £20million instantly.”

The council is also hoping for a boost in government funding to relieve the pressures of housing people in costly temporary accommodation, with the price of some nightly placements having doubled in the past year.

Cllr Adilypour said: “Without any additional funding to meet this huge increase in costs, it is inevitable that we need to take tough decisions to make savings across the whole council to ensure our continued financial stability.”

Difficult decisions, cllr Adilypour says, include making cuts elsewhere across the council’s budget, including in social and children’s services.

A Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesman said: “We know homelessness is far too high and it is having a devastating impact on those affected. Councils already receive funding to help meet the cost of temporary accommodation, but we will provide them with more stability through multi-year funding settlements.

“The Deputy Prime Minister is taking action to tackle homelessness with ministers across government through a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group where they will develop a long-term strategy to get us back on track to ending homelessness.”

Pictured top: Danny Adilypour, deputy leader and cabinet member for housing, investment and new homes at Lambeth council (Picture: Lambeth council)