New Polling Finds Public Support for Private Finance in Social Housing

New polling by More in Common, commissioned by The Housing Finance Corporation, shows that the British public supports private finance playing the major role in funding new social and affordable housing, even though most people have little idea how the sector is currently funded.

The survey of over 2,000 UK adults unveiled at an event hosted by More in Common and The Housing Finance Corporation at this week’s Labour Party Conference in Liverpool found that when asked how new social and affordable homes should be funded, a mix of government and private finance was the most popular choice (39%), ahead of mostly government funding (31%) and mostly private funding (10%). Told that private financial institutions such as banks, pension funds and investment funds already provide the majority of housing associations’ upfront funding; twice as many people wanted that share to grow (32%) as wanted it to shrink (15%), with the majority (53%) content to keep it unchanged.

UK adults are also interested in using their own savings to invest in funds that deliver social housing: 49% said they’d be interested in the option to invest their own savings in funds that help finance new social and affordable homes.

The findings point to a significant awareness gap, however: 73% of people said they knew “little or nothing” about how new social and affordable homes are currently funded, including a third (33%) who said they knew nothing at all.

Priya Nair, Chief Executive of The Housing Finance Corporation, said:

“This polling confirms what we’ve long believed: the public isn’t wary of private capital in social housing; they’re simply unaware of how much it already contributes. When people understand that private finance already underpins most housing associations’ funding, they want to see more of it, not less. That’s a strong reason for the Government to make clear their support for the Housing Association sector and current combination of Government grant and bank and capital market financing, which has supported investment in social and affordable homes over the past few decades”

Key findings:

• 39% of Britons prefer new social and affordable housing to be funded through a mix of government and private finance, versus 31% who prefer mostly government funding and 10% mostly private finance.
• 32% want housing associations’ reliance on private finance to increase, while 15% want it to decrease.
• Assuming the risks and returns would be the same as other investments, 49% would be interested in investing their own savings in funds that finance new social and affordable housing.