New plan to help older housing tenants downsize

Housing Minister Grant Shapps announced today (20 January 2011) that Greater Manchester’s older social housing tenants who struggle to manage and/or heat their large family homes, are now being offered a dedicated officer to assist them in finding smaller dwellings, suited more to their needs.

Rochdale Council will be allocated £150,000 from 2011-13, with future funding available until 2015 as part of a scheme is to help people live in a home they enjoy, not endure. The Minister argued that this will give them the security and dignity they deserve.

Mr Shapps has announced the multi-million pound cash boost to landlords’ efforts to better ensure their homes continue meet the needs of their residents.

Ministers are clear that they will not force people to move – but want to provide a helping hand to those wanting to do so.

With 430,000 under-occupied social homes in England, some tenants have two or more bedrooms more than they require. It’s common that these houses are owned by elderly occupants, whose children have grown up and moved out.

With more room than they actually need, many of these residents can become prisoners in their own homes, finding it a struggle to look after and heat the properties that are now too big for them to manage.

So, Mr Shapps has today confirmed that councils from across the country managing the largest number of homes will get a share of £13million over four years, to make it easier for those tenants wanting to move from larger family homes to smaller, more manageable homes, to do so.

Councils will be able to use this funding as they see fit to better meet the needs of their tenants, with measures such as:

A dedicated officer to help find residents a suitable new home;

A moving service to help tenants with every aspect of moving, from joining them on viewings to organising packing and removal services; and

Handymen to decorate and make repairs to their new home, including putting up shelves and installing white goods.


Mr. Shapps is looking to back all councils across the country, and has a new dedicated action based team that offer their services nation wide, based at the Chartered Institute of Housing. This team is offering practical support and advice, to councils that want to help tenants that wish to move into a practical, more homely abode.

Many tenants in larger properties are keen to downsize, and these will also benefit from opportunities to swap with some of the quarter of a million households which feel they have an overcrowded accommodation.

In particular the Localism Bill, currently before Parliament, includes measures to make it easier for social housing tenants to move through a new National Home Swap Scheme.

And with 1.8million households on social housing waiting lists, many of them families, this funding will also help unlock larger homes for those in greatest need.

Mr Shapps said: “Older people can become the victims of their own changed circumstances, as the homes they have lived in for years become places to endure, not enjoy. As children grow up and fly the nest, these tenants can often find themselves trapped in larger family homes that no longer meet their needs.

“That’s why I’m giving these residents the chance to start a new life in a new home that better meet their changing needs. Fifty councils from across the country will get a share of £13million to boost their efforts to make it easier for those wanting to downsize to do so.

“With a quarter of a million families in overcrowded accommodation and 1.8million households languishing on waiting lists, this will also help unlock larger family homes that are in such high demand.”

Sarah Webb, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: “There are over four million social homes across England and these are incredibly important to current and future tenants, communities and tax-payers. They provide a stable platform from which millions of families are able to find work, send children to school, and contribute to their local neighbourhoods.

“With millions more people looking to secure a council or housing association house we need to ensure we are making the most of the homes we’ve got – this is just as important as building new housing.

“That is why CIH is delighted to be working with government to deliver this practical help to support people who want to move to a new home that better suits their changing needs and aspirations.”