Corporate Landlord Is Abusing Human Rights

A multinational corporate landlord with more than 2,000 homes in the UK is abusing human rights around the world, the UN’s housing spokesperson has declared. In a scathing intervention, Leilani Farha, the UN’s special rapporteur on adequate housing, attacked Akelius Residential Property AB’s “aggressive push for housing profits”. She said: “Akelius’s business model, driven by the desire to maximise profits, has created a hostile environment for its tenants through a severe degradation of housing conditions, higher rents and increased risk or threat of eviction.” Swedish-listed Akelius owns 2,242 flats in London. It specialises on mid-market rents and does not currently have any clear involvement in the UK social housing sector. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/corporate-landlord-is-abusing-human-rights-says-un-expert-66304?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

Women Forced To Choose Between Abuse And Homelessness

Women in the capital are being forced to choose between remaining at the hands of abuse or face homelessness, according to a new Solace Women’s Aid report. Safe as Houses looks at how an increased fear of homelessness is keeping women in dangerous situations – with almost half saying that fear of losing their tenancy had been a barrier to leaving their abuser. Nearly one in three women are said to make six or more approaches to seek safe accommodation, only to be turned away – with two out of three of those surveyed said to have had a negative experience of their Local Authority’s housing services. Download the report from the Solace Women’s Aid website.

https://www.solacewomensaid.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/Solace_SafeasHousesReport_FINAL_0.pdf

Neglect And Abuse Claims On Rise In Sheltered Housing

More than 30,000 allegations of abuse and neglect concerning sheltered housing residents were received by UK councils between 1 April 2014 and 1 November 2017. The data, which was obtained by File on 4, also found the number of reports increased by 30% over the period. The BBC sent Freedom of Information requests to every council or health and social care trust in the UK, seeking the numbers of safeguarding alerts they had received about residents of sheltered housing and supported living schemes. Just under half supplied data, which revealed that during the period covered, a total of 30,785 safeguarding alerts were received, of which the majority were in England. Read more on the BBC website.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42708762

Barwell: Government Will Stamp Out 'Abuse' Of Leaseholder System

The government is “determined to stamp out” the “unfair, unjust and unacceptable abuse” of the leaseholder system, according to Gavin Barwell. The housing minister attacked the practice of certain developers building leasehold homes solely as a form of “investment vehicle for financial institutions”. Speaking at the Lease Annual Conference, Mr Barwell said reform of the leaseholder system would be included in the long-awaited Housing White Paper. He cited cases where people buy a leasehold only to find the cost of purchasing the freehold is “too prohibitive”. Read more on Inside Housing.

How Do Young People In Britain Become Homeless?

An in-depth study of youth homelessness reveals that violence, neglect and abuse are the main reasons for 16-25 year olds leaving home. The new research by the charity Centrepoint found that violence, abuse and neglect has driven 67 per cent of homeless people aged 16 to 25 away from home, up to 38 per cent of whom are being actively forced out by their parents. Meanwhile 23 per cent dealt with daily arguments and 21 per cent believed the level of violence at home left them with no option but to leave for their own safety. Centrepoint also says the decision to cut housing benefits for 18 to 21-year-olds will mean those forced to leave their family home face an even more uncertain future. Read more on the Centrepoint website.