Social Housing: the odds against success are growing

Date published: 22/03/2008

A quarter of Rochdale Borough's population lives in social housing and research published by the Housing Corporation shows that social housing tenants at age 30 are eleven times more likely than others to not be in employment, education or training, nine times more likely to be in workless households, nine time more likely not to have degree-level qualifications and nine times more likely to be a single parent.

The research, carried out by the Smith Institute and sponsored by the Housing corporation, has studied the link between social housing and disadvantage by looking at people born in each of the years 1946, 1958, 1970 and 2000.

It notes that until those born in 1958, there were no negative consequences for those choosing social housing. But as owner-occupation has been encouraged by all governments since then:

Social housing has changed from being a growing sector with new, relatively high-quality housing and little stigma, to a shrinking, ageing sector with a poor reputation. In this process it has not managed to successfully combat the disadvantage experienced by its tenants and may have added to it.

And now there are signs that it has become a trap: males in the 1958 cohort in social housing at age 33 (1991) have odds of being in social housing at age 42 (2000) that are 29 times higher than those not in social housing at age 33. 

David Bartlett of RoFTRA says: "As a quarter of Rochdale Borough's population lives in social housing, surely the Council needs now to make it a priority for regeneration programmes?"