Anna Posyniak‑Dutka My House Is My Castle

Social housingsocial housingSocial housing, also referred to as council housingcouncil housingcouncil housing, is one of the ways the welfare statewelfare statewelfare state can support its citizens in their struggle for their own homes. The main difference between social housing and the private sector is the rentrentrent, which in the case of social housing is far below market pricesbelow market prices [below market price]below market prices. The second, and sometimes even more important characteristic, is that claimantsclaimants in the scheme [claimant in the scheme]claimants who are granted accommodation within social housing schemes can count on a more secure, long‑term tenancylong‑term tenancylong‑term tenancy than in the case of a lease from a private landlordprivate landlord/landladyprivate landlord. Nowadays, when coming bycoming by [come by]coming by affordable housingaffordable housingaffordable housing has become a real challenge for many households, the security provided via social housing cannot bebe overstated [overstate]be overstatedbe overstated [overstate]overstated.

Who is it for?

In broad terms, people who have a weak negotiating position on the housing market are prioritised and given assistance in the process of granting places to inhabit. It’s not only low‑income householdslow‑income households [low‑income household]low‑income households that qualify for social housing, although lack of financial stability is most often both the direct or indirect reason for people to become claimants in the schemes. Those are aimed at families or individuals classified as vulnerablevulnerablevulnerable, that is people with physical or mental disabilities, migrants or asylum seekersasylum seekers [asylum seeker]asylum seekers, or ethnic minorities. However, a past recordpast recordpast record of serious unacceptable behaviour may disqualify an applicantapplicantapplicant.

How to apply?

The criteria may vary slightly in different places in Great Britain, but the general requirements are the following: if a family or an individual find themselves in an emergency, for example, their current accommodation poses a risk to their healthposes a risk to their health [pose a risk to somebody’s health]poses a risk to their health or life, or they are homeless, local authorities have a duty to prioritise the needs of such a household. In any case, people who think they might be eligible forbe eligible forbe eligible for social housing will have to go through the allocation schemeallocation schemeallocation scheme which is initiated by filing an applicationfiling an application [file an application]filing an application with their local council. Eligibility does not guarantee being offered a place. Unfortunately, the scarcityscarcity ofscarcity ofscarcity ofof housing available results in lengthy waiting listslengthy waiting listlengthy waiting lists. It may take years until a claimant receives an offer.

Who is responsible for it?

Government‑supported housing associationshousing associations [housing association]housing associations or councils are the primary providers of social housing programmes. They build housing estateshousing estates [housing estate]housing estates, renovate existing infrastructure, or adapt it to cater for the needscater for the needs of [cater for the need of]cater for the needs ofcater for the needs of [cater for the need of]of a wide variety of people. Council workers support claimants in the process of filing and submitting their applications and provide all necessary information regarding the process and criteria of eligibilitycriteria of eligibility [criterion of eligibility]criteria of eligibility.

What’s the situation now?

The demand for social housing reflects the state of the economy of a given country in quite a direct manner. In times of crisis or when austerity measuresausterity measures [austterity measure]austerity measures are introduced, and, for example, housing benefitshousing benefits [housing benefit]housing benefits, which in many cases are the only way households can afford to pay their rents, are drastically cut, the demand for social housing grows significantly. Unfortunately, for many years now the outputoutputoutput of social housing estates hasn’t been able to match the ever‑increasing waiting list of people in need. If we explore some facts and figures, we will clearly see that in Great Britain only there are about 1.2 million people waiting to be granted affordable housing. It’s not rocket science to conclude that these are people in or on the verge ofon the verge ofon the verge of serious life crises, perhaps on the brink ofon the brink ofon the brink of homelessness. More and more communities are in dire need ofin dire need ofin dire need of immediate municipal programmes.

1 Źródło: Anna Posyniak‑Dutka, [na podstawie:] https://sheltercymru.org.uk/get-advice/finding-a-place-to-live/council-and-housing-association-waiting-lists/who-is-eligible-to-apply/ [dostęp 12.05.2022], https://www.housing.org.uk/about-housing-associations/about-social-housing/ [dostęp 12.05.2022], https://england.shelter.org.uk/support_us/campaigns/what_is_social_housing [dostęp 12.05.2022], https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-help/services/how-crisis-can-help-you/ [dostęp 12.05.2022], https://www.independentage.org/get-advice/housing-options/types-of-housing/applying-for-social-housing [dostęp 12.05.2022], licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.