How will social housing job prospects be affected by the coalition government?

Since the election of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in May 2010, many people working in public sector positions have been waiting for new deficit-busting measures to be unveiled, at great cost to public funding. With the cuts finally starting to bite in the first half of 2011 and economic recovery after the financial crisis of autumn 2008 still slow, it seems that social housing is set to take the brunt of the spending cuts. It remains unclear, however, what impact this will have on the career prospects of those already working in social housing-related positions and on those keen to enter this field.



Social housing, sometimes referred to as council housing or local authority housing, is essential to the daily lives of millions of people all over the UK who cannot afford to buy their own housing. It is generally owned by the local authority – typically the local council – or an approved third-party-housing association – and leased to tenants, often on very long terms or permanent leases. Although the construction of social housing slowed down a great deal during the 1990s and 2000s exacerbated by Margaret Thatcher’s sale of the housing stock in the Right to Buy Scheme in the 1980s, demand on the available public housing stock did not, making working in social housing more challenging than ever.

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government’s preference seems to be for ‘affordable housing’ rather than social housing. The meaning of this term has shifted somewhat in recent years and now typically refers to privately built homes that are either bought by the council and let or rented at council-subsidised rates to those who would not otherwise be able to afford the houses. The idea seems to be taking the burden of construction and property maintenance off local authorities and shifting it to private associations, reducing the impact on public finances.



The social housing budget was slashed by over 50% in October 2010 by Chancellor George Osborne in the government’s first major spending review. It is part of a package of reforms aimed at building 150,000 new affordable homes while reducing the burden of social housing on the nation’s finances. The main outcome from this cut is the shift of the cost of housing from government to local authorities and, in turn, to social housing tenants who, it is expected, will pay increased rent as a result.



It remains unclear exactly what effect this will have on the career prospects of those with social housing jobs. While the government and local authorities are desperately trying to cut costs, the demand for social housing is greater than ever before, meaning that social housing workers are in need. The most likely scenario is that jobs in the public sector will gradually dry up as council funding cuts take effect while more positions open up in the private sector as the government attempts to use housing associations to take on the workload dropped by local authorities.



The author of this article is a part of a digital blogging team who work with brands like Hays. The content contained in this article is for information purposes only and should not be used to make any financial decisions.