Letter: GBC’s Housing Crisis

Published on: 9 Sep, 2024
Updated on: 10 Sep, 2024

An empty property in Westborough.

From: Joe Brooker

Guildford Labour

Guildford residents know that our social housing is in crisis. The 2024 Solace Report shone a light on the multiple failures of Guildford Borough Council, and the Housing department in particular, and its inability to tackle serious issues of governance.

A particular issue is that of “voids”, homes that have been left vacant.

Guildford’s voids issue is significant. The national average period for a home to be empty between tenants is 23 days for local authorities – for Guildford it is 350 days. The cost of major works on void properties is much higher in Guildford than in other areas of Surrey – in Waverley it stands at £4,000 while in Guildford it is a staggering £32,000, according to the Housing Governance Review in the Solace Report.

We all know these sorts of houses on sight – overgrown gardens, boarded up windows and doors, and clear deterioration to the point that some walls are held up by steel girders. And these abandoned homes cause issues for neighbours by hosting vermin and attracting criminals to set up shop.

The council has been very opaque on the status of their housing stock. There appears to be no complete list or survey available the public on the status of social housing available but without clear information it is hard to see how this issue can be effectively solved.

The performance of the Housing Department under this and the previous council has been catastrophically poor. It has overseen a poor and deteriorating housing situation, financial mismanagement, an inability to respond to complaints in a timely manner and is letting down the people of Guildford.

We need change in Guildford and it should start with new leadership in the Housing Department, and a new transparency in the way it measures its performance.