Homeless Women Turned Away

Local councils struggling to meet the demand for emergency housing are turning away vulnerable homeless women, including domestic violence victims and those with mental health issues as well as those fleeing domestic abuse, an investigation has found. Across several local authorities in England and Wales women found themselves turned away without being properly assessed or being able to make a homeless application despite qualifying for emergency accommodation under government guidelines.  An experiment by Channel 4’s Dispatches found that out of 15 approaches made by women with priority needs, only four were successful.  Read more on the Independent website.

Why Housing Associations Are the True Villains of the Property Crisis

Housing associations are a bit like Network Rail. They are what Tony Blair christened his ‘Third Way’ between capitalism and socialism, in the hope they would combine the best elements of both. Instead, they combine some of the worst: public sector lethargy and private sector greed. According to a forthcoming investigation by Channel 4 News, 40 housing association executives are paid more than the Prime Minister for managing a pile of ex-council houses given to them on a plate and which were once managed by a clerk of works and a team of rent-collectors on no more than £30,000 a year. David Cameron’s government is making life a little harder for these associations, and, not surprisingly, they don’t like it. Read more on the Spectator website.

Why Universal Credit Won’t Be Universal Until At Least 2018

It’s the best of times and worst of times for welfare secretary Iain Duncan Smith. The universal credit – an all in one replacement for welfare benefits – is proving popular with claimants in the places where it’s being trialled. That’s the good news. The bad news is, at the current rate of roll out will take a long time to take effect. The original target was to get a million people onto universal credit by this year. In reality there are just 14,000. DWP has now released a new projection of the roll-out dates: 100,000 people will be getting the new benefit by May 2015, rising to 500,000 by May 2016. Duncan Smith said he hoped everyone would be on the benefit by 2018, though he admitted some difficult groups may not.  Read more on the Channel 4 website.

Shapps Rules Out Leaseholder 'Exploitation' Laws

The housing minister has ruled out legislation to protect leaseholders despite a television documentary suggesting councils are profiting from repairs deals. Channel 4’s Dispatches programme suggested leaseholders were being overcharged for repairs works and local authorities were pocketing the left over cash.  But Mr Shapps said while landlords should act responsibly ‘more and more red tape’ was not the answer.  ‘The vast majority of the country’s three million leaseholders are satisfied with the service they receive from their freehold landlord,’ he said.  The programme was shown on the same day liberal think tank CentreForum released a report arguing that regulation for the leasehold sector was ‘urgently needed’.  ‘The number of leasehold properties will increase significantly in the coming years, precisely because of other government policies – both the right-to-buy and the housing strategy to increase the supply of homes,’ the paper A new lease of life says.  ‘The government must therefore seek to integrate policy so that reform of the leasehold system [is] pursued alongside the development of new houses.’ Download a copy of the paper from the CentreForum website.

Millions Spent Boarding up Homes as Families Languish on Waiting Lists

Councils are shelling out millions of pounds a year to secure and board up publicly-owned empty homes while two million families languish on waiting lists, it has emerged. The figures were revealed by Channel 4 in its Great British Property Scandal programme - part of a series addressing the nation's housing shortage. There are close to one million empty homes in the UK, with 350,000 of them vacant for six months or longer. In contrast, there are nearly two million families on the housing waiting list. The programme revealed that the councils who responded to its survey spent a total of £11 million last year securing and boarding up properties; with Liverpool City Council spending the most at £1.28 million. Read more on 24dash.

Channel 4 Dedicates Season of Programmes to UK Housing Crisis

Channel 4 is to air a season of special programmes dedicated to the UK's housing crisis, its causes and possible solutions. Almost two million British families are currently on the waiting lists for social housing, and thousands live in unsuitable temporary accommodation or are struggling with soaring rent payments. Cutbacks and the recession also mean that homelessness has become a very real threat to thousands across the whole social spectrum who are increasingly struggling to make ends meet. For 'The Great British Property Scandal' season, Channel 4 will investigate some of the complex and varied issues that have contributed to the housing crisis and speak to some of the people affected by it. Programmes are;
The Great British Property Scandal - Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th December, 9pm, Channel 4
Phil's Empty Homes Giveaway - Wednesday 7th December, 9pm, Channel 4
Kevin's Grand Design - Thursday 8th and Thursday 15th December, 8pm, Channel 4. Find full details on 24dash.

Spending Cuts Trap Britain's Poorest In Boarded-Up Ghost Towns

Tens of thousands of residents in England's poorest communities are finding themselves trapped in streets filled with demolished or boarded-up houses after a £5bn Whitehall housing renewal project was cancelled. Residents living in mostly Victorian terraced homes in parts of Birmingham, Salford, Teesside, Merseyside, Lancashire and South Yorkshire that were due to be refurbished or demolished and replaced with new housing are in limbo after the government's Pathfinder scheme was halted in the comprehensive spending review. Brendan Nevin, the academic who helped devise the initiative under Labour, told Channel 4 News that over 123,000 of England's poorest residents are directly affected by the decision, which has left residents marooned among homes that have already been demolished or boarded up as part of the aborted programme. He said 30,000 properties scheduled for demolition may now remain standing and over 37,000 may not be refurbished. He added that the nine areas in the scheme account for almost half of the poorest 1% of neighbourhoods in the country. Remaining homeowners have seen the value of their properties drop dramatically after agreements with local councils to sell their homes for demolition were withdrawn, leaving them with little prospect of moving. Some had let their houses fall into disrepair in anticipation of moving out, but now face having to stay indefinitely. Read more on The Guardian website.

Social Housing Budget Slashed by Spending Cuts

Speculation is mounting that the £8bn social housing budget will be slashed by up to 80% on Wednesday as George Osbourne announces the long-awaited Comprehensive Spending Review. According to Channel 4 News the budget given to new social housing "will be reduced by up to 80 per cent", and child benefits for the over-16s will be cut, affecting up to 2 million families. It reports that housing associations were given a 40 per cent government subsidy to build some 50,000 homes last year, nearly half of the entire stock of new homes. It says that insiders suggest that if cuts reach 80 per cent of the Budget that new social housing will collapse to just a few hundred per year. It reports that Government insiders have confirmed that the rough magnitude of cuts to the £8.4bn social housing budget will be 60-80 per cent. Read more on the Channel 4 website.