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Public Services for All > Published by Cormac Hollingsworth, February 20th 2012 at 12:30 pm

Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap

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Housing investment is an important part of our economy, yet the coalition has lacked the imagination to apply the principles of industrial policy and active government to the problem of a high housing benefit bill.

For example, why aren’t we looking at Singapore’s housing policy? There, land is at such a premium that the government builds low-cost housing that is managed by housing co-ops.

Perhaps Singapore sees its housing investment as part of its industrial policy: housing costs are a major determinant of wage levels so a low cost housing strategy would make a major contribution to improved productivity.

Here in the UK, housing investment has collapsed since the credit crunch, enough to evaluate the case for active government investment in housing.  To do that, we need to evaluate the effect of housing investment on growth and tax receipts.

Assuming that each unit costs £100,000 of investment to build, and that the cost of land is gifted from the local authority, we simply need to know how investment in housing increases economic growth.

The Office of Budget Responsibility states that the output multiplier of investment is one-for-one: for every £1 of housing investment it boosts the economy’s output by £1. This boost in economic output then feeds through into an increase in tax receipts: we’ve calculated that in our present stagnating economy, a £1 increase in output increases receipts by 65 pence.

So, for each unit the government invests in, economic output would increase by £100,000. This increased output would improve tax receipts as the improved growth spread throughout the economy, and for a government investment of £100,000, the per-unit increase in tax receipts for an investment will be £65,000.

Therefore, while the government spends £100,000 it receives an extra £65,000 in tax receipts, so netting these two out, the cost to the government of building these units would be £35,000.

This might give us pause: across the 67,000 families on whom the benefit cap falls, this would represent a bill of £2.3 billion. But that would be to neglect that the social rent savings in the future. Putting people into low cost socially rented represents an enormous fall in housing benefit.

The housing benefit cap is £400 per week but social rents are much lower, perhaps as much as £300 per week lower. So putting families into government built low cost housing would save an additional £15,600 per year. This would cover the per-unit cost of building of £35,000 after two and a quarter years.

After that, the government continues to save £15,600 per year per family on housing benefit payments. Scaling this up over ten years and across the 67,000 families, the build strategy would save the exchequer a further £8.1 billion.

This is an enormous saving, three times more that the £2.75 billion the government plans to save. It is also additional to that saving: The money saved from the housing benefit cap is not lost by putting people into social housing.

These huge savings are before we take into account the broader economic productivity benefit of solving high-cost-housing problem, but it’s clear why Singapore builds low cost co-operative housing to tackle its high cost of land problem. It should now be obvious that it’s applicable here.

Until we realise how an active government’s industrial policy compels us to provide low-cost housing, our economy will continue to stagnate, while Singapore’s continues to grow.

See also:

• Could the welfare bill signal the death of social housing? – Thomas Sutton, December 22nd 2011

• Shapps’s subprime stimulus is a bailout for housebuilders – Kevin Gulliver, November 22nd 2011

• Social housing needs a ‘New Deal’ – Kevin Gulliver, September 28th 2011

• Government spin on so-called “rich” social housing tenants exposed – Kevin Gulliver, June 6th 2011

• Two Labour traditions can come together in social housing – Kevin Gulliver, June 1st 2011

  • clarebelz

    I really is a ‘no brainer’ as far as the housing crisis is concerned, and if the post war government could afford to do it, our government could too, especially when you look at it in terms of saving.

    Has anyone calculated just how many jobs a building programme like this would create, especially if the programme became a ‘rolling’ programme of house building? Also, people, even poorer people who move into secure permanent housing tend to spend money on items for their new homes, has anyone calculated how this would impact on growth in any way? If these homes were designed with a cost effective eco design, has anyone calculated how this might impact on the green industries?

    Also, once the new tenants were financially secure and employed, if the ‘right to buy’ was made a permanent feature of a rolling home building programme, whereby for each home that was sold, an extra home was built, how would this impact on the financial sector and the housing market in general? Of course we have to consider those who are better off and can’t afford to buy like many on average wages, so a fairer way of allocating such homes whereby 50% of all houses built were offered to better off people to rent, who could then buy after a certain period (to allow some funds to be taken as rent to help housing association income). This would be a much fairer option for everyone concerned. Has anyone worked out how long it would take to build enough homes for the low paid and those on average wage?

    I would say all in all, although such a programme would not provide the UK with the growth or the jobs are needed, it would certainly boost our economy in many different ways.

    If all of this research is out there, the question is, why can’t our successive governments start to innovate in this way, particularly when it is going to not only cut the housing benefit bill, but provide jobs and a certain amount of steady growth?

    The answer can only be that either they are too misinformed to understand this, or they purposefully wish to punish people on lower incomes and the poor to satisfy those who may vote for them in the future; I think the latter applies.

  • George Hallam

    Building council houses would be great.

    But there is plenty we can do right now.

    This is what People Before Profit have been doing in Lewisham.

    http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/whereilive/localheadlines/9529862.Council_withdraws_houses_from_sale_after_squatters_stage_sit_in/r/?ref=rss

  • Anonymous

    Assuming that each unit costs £100,000 of investment to build, and that the cost of land is gifted from the local authority, we simply need to know how investment in housing increases economic growth.

    ===========

    So you’re leaving at least 1/3rd off the cost? Doesn’t hold up much hope for a correct conclusion.

  • Anonymous

    Of course you could say, no housing for migrants. After all if we get the right migrants, they won’t need social housing.

  • http://twitter.com/admirehomesales/status/171622740334358528 admirehomesales

    Building social #housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap: http://t.co/5hHMtJ9V

  • http://twitter.com/pccm2/status/171625849471242241 Peter Marshall

    Want to cut the housing bill? Investment in social housing would do it 3x faster than a cap: http://t.co/YSH31sXB by @cormacholly

  • http://twitter.com/frothingangri/status/171630423024222208 Froth Ing

    RT @leftfootfwd: Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap http://t.co/pV9ak4Qv #frothers

  • http://twitter.com/jintyg51/status/171643737884200960 Janet Graham

    Want to cut the housing bill? Investment in social housing would do it 3x faster than a cap: http://t.co/YSH31sXB by @cormacholly

  • http://twitter.com/Newsbot9 Newsbot9

    Right. Except, wait, what’s this, migrants being rejected from the UK who go on to get O1 “superstar” visa’s. Not to mention the ethics of letting people die on the street.

  • http://twitter.com/Newsbot9 Newsbot9

    So, getting people sent to jail when the government you back criminalises trespass?

    BRILLIANT!

  • http://twitter.com/Newsbot9 Newsbot9

    Too little, too late.

    We need a cap on RENTS. Now. People are actively being socially cleansed from many areas.

  • http://twitter.com/smather4/status/171736375085899776 Stephanie Mather

    Want to cut the housing bill? Investment in social housing would do it 3x faster than a cap: http://t.co/YSH31sXB by @cormacholly

  • Anonymous

    I wouldn’t say 01 levels.

    However, I would set the level as follows.

    Each migrant has to pay more tax than the average government spend per person. Dependents included.

    Given the average government spend is 11K, that means over 40K per migrant. Far lower than 01.

    Migrants can stay as long as this is met.

    No recourse to public funds.

    That means we only get the beneficial migrants. Not the ones that are a cost to other people.

    It also means no work for civil servants deciding on lists as to who can come and who can’t.

    Check the tax form at the end of the year, and a thank you or a good bye.

    For the first year, a bond or 11K paid in advance of tax.

    It’s simple. It’s elegant. It deals with most of the criticisms of the BNP and kills them dead, as its non-racist.

    So who ends up on the street? No one in this case. For the indigenous, they get on the social housing list.

    For people like Bob Crow on large salaries, I would say they have to leave too. Social housing for be those in need, not for life.

  • http://twitter.com/allisonbridget/status/171743796533538817 Jennifer Sandford

    Want to cut the housing bill? Investment in social housing would do it 3x faster than a cap: http://t.co/YSH31sXB by @cormacholly

  • http://twitter.com/oilywaters/status/171746607610597376 H. O.

    RT @leftfootfwd: Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap http://t.co/RdAe9Qpq

  • http://twitter.com/jimwhite13/status/171761402300743681 James White

    leftfootfwd: Want to cut the housing bill? Investment in social housing would do it 3x faster than a cap: http://t.co/ydAQiJEp by @cormacho…

  • http://twitter.com/livable4all/status/171772525557186561 Livable4All

    RT @leftfootfwd: Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap http://t.co/oG9aphmo #wrb

  • http://twitter.com/_ilpo_/status/171773013992288257 Ilpo

    RT @leftfootfwd: Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap http://t.co/oG9aphmo #wrb

  • http://twitter.com/kevinrye/status/171891970032148480 kevinrye

    Want to cut the housing bill? Investment in social housing would do it 3x faster than a cap: http://t.co/YSH31sXB by @cormacholly

  • http://twitter.com/paulrooke10/status/171900525426638848 Paul Rooke

    Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap … http://t.co/2loRFWc1

  • http://twitter.com/paulrooke10/status/171900755224174592 Paul Rooke

    Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a … http://t.co/2loRFWc1

  • http://twitter.com/britishroses1/status/171901009654853632 BevR

    Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap http://t.co/wGGWp9Jd #SpartacusReport #wrb

  • http://twitter.com/daisybeebee/status/171913378078531584 Just Me

    Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap http://t.co/wGGWp9Jd #SpartacusReport #wrb

  • http://twitter.com/keithdavis36/status/171926503158857728 keith davis

    Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap http://t.co/wGGWp9Jd #SpartacusReport #wrb

  • http://twitter.com/budecruiser/status/172100719707570177 Raymond Shemilt

    'Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap' http://t.co/0ODG15lt via @leftfootfwd #ukhousing

  • http://twitter.com/nnriaz/status/172100824539992065 Nighet Nasim Riaz

    'Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap' http://t.co/0ODG15lt via @leftfootfwd #ukhousing

  • http://twitter.com/glassdarkness/status/172103299095474176 Michele Thomas

    'Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap' http://t.co/0ODG15lt via @leftfootfwd #ukhousing

  • http://twitter.com/clareblair/status/172105845310619648 Clare Blair

    'Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap' http://t.co/0ODG15lt via @leftfootfwd #ukhousing

  • http://twitter.com/jaimewilderness/status/172106892984848385 Jaime Wilder

    'Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap' http://t.co/0ODG15lt via @leftfootfwd #ukhousing

  • http://twitter.com/jaimelicious/status/172108627350528000 Jaime Fay O’Connor

    'Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap' http://t.co/0ODG15lt via @leftfootfwd #ukhousing

  • http://twitter.com/cj_pope/status/172111190061887489 Catherine Pope

    'Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap' http://t.co/0ODG15lt via @leftfootfwd #ukhousing

  • http://twitter.com/leapingweasel/status/172113397528264705 LeapingWeasel

    'Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap' http://t.co/0ODG15lt via @leftfootfwd #ukhousing

  • http://twitter.com/augustine_ryan/status/172213406194085888 Augustine Ryan

    'Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap' http://t.co/0ODG15lt via @leftfootfwd #ukhousing

  • http://twitter.com/johnmiller1948/status/172226796346015744 john miller

    'Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap' http://t.co/0ODG15lt via @leftfootfwd #ukhousing

  • http://twitter.com/codger_old/status/172252424873058305 Codger Old

    'Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap' http://t.co/0ODG15lt via @leftfootfwd #ukhousing

  • http://twitter.com/bennsanders/status/172307645414391809 Ben Sanders

    Here's an idea – build some houses, generate new jobs and cut the benefits bill! http://t.co/7yBgvy6Y

  • http://twitter.com/dryork/status/173038089864888321 Stewart Kirk

    RT @leftfootfwd: Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap http://t.co/EtSgh7N1

  • Lancedyer

    If the millions of QE money was channelled directly into affordable housing we would get more employment and lower benefit costs! Too simple – not enough commission for the banks?

  • http://twitter.com/peterpannier/status/184964699790639105 Peter Pannier

    "Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap" http://t.co/OON7shQZ #rentstrike #rentstrikenow

  • http://twitter.com/f4flake/status/184964871807447040 Flake

    "Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap" http://t.co/OON7shQZ #rentstrike #rentstrikenow

  • http://twitter.com/debbbooo/status/184965411782144000 Debra Halliday

    "Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap" http://t.co/OON7shQZ #rentstrike #rentstrikenow

  • http://twitter.com/damrobinson/status/184968101195038721 dam robinson

    "Building social housing would cut the housing benefit bill three times faster than a cap" http://t.co/OON7shQZ #rentstrike #rentstrikenow