Council Demands HS2 Funds Rehousing Of Hundreds Of Tenants

A London council has demanded that the company building High Speed 2 (HS2) funds the rehousing of hundreds of its tenants, whose homes it claims will be made “virtually uninhabitable” by rail works. Camden Council has threatened to report HS2 Limited to parliament over breaching assurances on noise levels made while legislation setting the framework for the project was being passed if it does not agree to a compensation deal and has notified the Department for Transport. The local authority warned it “will be forced to take matters into its own hands” if a solution for residents is not found. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/council-demands-hs2-to-fund-rehousing-of-hundreds-of-tenants-68304#:~:text=A%20London%20council%20has%20demanded,virtually%20uninhabitable%E2%80%9D%20by%20rail%20works.&text=It%20said%20the%20firm%20has,mitigation%20measures%20promised%20in%202015

£1m Admin Cost Estimate On First Year Of Pay To Stay

A London borough estimates that Pay to Stay could cost it £1 million in first year administration costs alone to make IT and other system and process changes happen.  The borough of Camden has put a £1 million price on the bureaucracy that Pay to Stay will generate.  Camden concedes to “little detailed information” about how many households are likely to be affected by Pay to Stay, but estimates indicate that as many as 13% of tenants may be affected - against the government’s national estimate of 7.4%. Read more on 24dash.

Town Hall Halt Right To Buy Council Home Deals

Fourteen Right to Buy deals for Camden Council homes have been halted by fraud investigators amid suspicions they were set up by people looking to cheat the system. The cases were revealed in a new report circulated at the Town Hall, which also shows that the council has seen an increase in potential fraudulent applications over the last financial year. The rise matches a trend that has seen local authorities across the country report more fraud cases than ever before, and coincides with the increased discounts made available by the government to tenants looking to buy ownership of their council homes. Read more on the Camden New Journal website.

Homeless Families ‘Forced Out’ By Welfare Reforms

Almost 40 homeless families face being forced out of Camden as sweeping changes to the benefits system leads to the closure of a support scheme. Camden Council has called time on its Homeless Families Initiative which has offered temporary accommodation to destitute families since 1989, an investigation by the Ham&High has found. The council says reductions in housing benefit and other welfare changes “have made the scheme unaffordable” and 39 households have been issued with eviction notices. But Camden has admitted that a lack of “affordable family-size accommodation” may result in the families being moved out of the borough – leading to accusations of social cleansing. Read more on the Ham&High website.

20% of Borough's Right to Buy Homes Belong To 'Extortionate' Private Landlords

A fifth of a London borough's former council homes sold off under the controversial right to buy scheme are in the hands of private landlords charging "extortionate rents" a councillor has said. According to Camden Council's cabinet member for finance and technology policy, Theo Blackwell, many people now renting homes that used to belong to the local authority are being supported by the taxpayer, as private landlords continue to "exploit" the right to buy policy. Camden is the only one of London's 33 boroughs that has managed to build more council homes than it has been forced to sell off under right to buy over the last two years. Read more on 24dash.

Johnson Calls For Massive Council Tax Rise for Empty Homes

Boris Johnson has called for "at least" a tenfold increase on council tax for the owners of empty homes to help to tackle Britain's housing crisis. The London mayor said he was urging London boroughs to "whack up" tax on property owners who allow their homes to stand empty for more than a year. Speaking on his Ask Boris show on LBC Radio, Johnson praised Labour-controlled Camden council for charging 150% council tax rates on homes that have been empty for more than two years. He claimed it was the only London borough to use the power, and urged others to do the same. But he went further by calling for a change in the law to allow councils to impose punitive 1,000% rates on the owners of vacant homes. Read more on the Guardian website.

Council May Ban Right To Buy Homes Being Let

A Labour-led council in London is attempting to become the first to bar social tenants that take up the right to buy from ever letting the property to private tenants. In a bid to crack down on poor housing conditions in former council houses Camden Council is consulting lawyers to try to find a way to make it illegal for tenants to buy their homes at a 75 per cent discount and then let them out. The ‘no buy to rent’ policy would exclude council properties bought using the £100,000 discounts from then being privately let. There are around 9,000 right to buy leaseholders in Camden - one third of whom are absent, many having bought the home to let out. Read more on Inside Housing.

Office to Residential Scheme Comes Under Fire at High Court

The government’s refusal to exempt councils from its relaxation of office to residential planning reforms was branded ‘unfair and unlawful’ at the High Court. The London boroughs of Islington, Richmond and Camden argued the changes to planning rules could threaten swathes of their areas with economic meltdown. They said converting occupied offices to homes could force small businesses to move to peripheral areas. The councils sought exemptions from the communities secretary, Eric Pickles, rule changes and his refusal has triggered a High Court show-down. Read more on Inside Housing.

Empty Home Council Tax Levy Proposed

Camden Council wants to charge owners of long-term empty homes an extra 100% on their council tax.  The government already allows local councils to charge an extra 50% council tax on homes that have stood empty for more than two years.  The north London council also wants to charge extra tax on homes that have been empty for more than one year.  Camden was found to be the least affordable UK area in a study, with mortgage payments at 53% of income.  Camden has called on the CLG to consider reducing the minimum period a house has stood empty to one year from two years and levy a premium of up to 100% on the council tax charge.  Read more on the BBC website.