Housing associations reject ‘substandard’ homes

Thousands of developers’ surplus new-build homes are being rejected by housing associations because they aren’t of a high enough standard. The government set up a national clearing house to help housing associations buy some of the estimated 100,000 unsold new-build homes in the UK to take pressure of the 4.5 million people on council housing waiting lists. However, Gavin Smart of the National Housing Federation said that many of the homes they were being offered to purchase did not meet the high environmental standards and size specifications expected for social housing.