18 Rejected

We queried why student accommodation and converted offices count, in the Department’s statistics, as new...

Conclusion
We queried why student accommodation and converted offices count, in the Department’s statistics, as new housing when student accommodation is not necessarily a permanent home, and many office conversions are tiny, lack proper insulation, and could not be said to constitute a home. The Department countered that student accommodation relieved pressure on housing more widely, so it was justifiable to include as new housing. It acknowledged that some office conversions had been of poor quality, and explained it had introduced standards for the amount of natural light converted office space was required to provide and was working to introduce standards for the amount of space for converted office space.49
Government Response Summary
The government explicitly disagreed with the (misidentified) recommendation, explaining that student accommodation and converted offices are legitimately included in official 'Net Additional Dwelling Statistics' as they contribute to housing supply.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government Rejected
3.8 The government disagrees with this recommendation. 3.9 In terms of which types of home count towards the 300,000, the official measure used is the ‘Net Additional Dwelling Statistics’, which is published annually. This includes all new house building completions plus gains or losses from conversions and change of use and demolitions (also referred to as Net Supply of Housing). The definition of the types of homes that contribute to these statistics is available on page 15 of the publication, Housing supply; net additional dwellings, England: 2019-20.
Addressee Bodies
HM Treasury
Timeline
Recommendation age 5.6 yrs
Report published 09 Dec 2020