London Council Halts ‘Out Of Borough’ Homeless Placements

Enfield Council will stop moving homeless people outside of the borough, as part of a wider effort to end its “extensive use” of temporary accommodation. The council will begin its new approach by relocating residents who have been placed in permitted development blocks in Harlow, Essex. Mark Ingall, leader of Harlow council, has welcomed the move by Enfield which is responsible for roughly half of the "out of borough" placements made by London councils in Harlow. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/london-council-halts-out-of-borough-homeless-placements-63566?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

Council Brings Housing Repairs Service Back In House

Repairs to Enfield Council’s housing stock will be brought back in house as part of a scheme which aims to improve the service and make it more responsive to tenants and leaseholders needs. Enfield Council owns 10,500 homes and has some obligations to repair a further 5,000 leasehold properties. Repairs are currently carried out by contractors and while there have been improvements in the quality of service in the past six months, the borough’s cabinet agreed on June 12 to bring the service fully under the control of the Council at an initial cost of £1.2m. Read more on the Enfield Council website.

https://new.enfield.gov.uk/news-and-events/council-brings-housing-repairs-service-back-in-hou/

Enfield Housing Association Approved

A housing provider that could save Enfield Council almost £2 million a year and boost the supply of affordable homes is to receive start-up funding. The council’s cabinet committee has approved a cash injection of £250,000 to get Red Lion Homes (RLH) – a company set up to invest its right-to-buy receipts into housebuilding – underway. As well as increasing the supply of social housing, the company will save the council £1.8 million a year that is currently spent on renting back former council homes to the homeless. The Right to Buy policy has resulted in councils paying private landlords in order to provide accommodation for the homeless. Read more on the Enfield Independent website.

http://www.enfieldindependent.co.uk/news/16171431.Housing_firm_to_boost_homes_supply_and_save_Enfield_Council_almost___2m_a_year/

Council To Set Up Housing Association For Right To Buy Funds

Enfield Council is set to establish a housing association to spend funds it receives from council tenants exercising their Right to Buy. The Council is expected to vote in favour of lending £250,000 to Red Lion Homes to cover start-up costs and transferring sites to the new association, which aims to provide 500 homes in six years. The council first approved the idea of setting up a housing association in November 2015, as a way of spending the £154m of Right to Buy receipts it has to spend between 2018/19 and 2022/23. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:tAclHl1PUqAJ:https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/london-council-to-set-up-housing-association-for-right-to-buy-funds-55786+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&safe=vss

Council Saves Money On Temporary Accommodation By Purchasing Homes

A London council claims it’s saved almost £1 million in two years by purchasing homes to use as an alternative to nightly accommodation for vulnerable families. Enfield Council set up the independent company Housing Gateway to buy family homes in the borough and surrounding area. Families are placed in a Gateway property and then they are given an assured shorthold tenancy and supported to find alternative accommodation. The company was set up in March 2014 to reduce an anticipated £3.3 million budget pressure associated with housing families in temporary accommodation in 2014/15 and between then and 31 March this year, the company has bought 180 properties and saved the Council £968,585 in nightly accommodation costs. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

350,000 Renters Put At Risk Of Eviction

More than 148,000 renting households – equivalent to 350,000 people – were put at risk of losing their home in the 12 months to April, according to a new analysis of government figures by housing charity Shelter. People renting in the London boroughs of Enfield, and Barking and Dagenham faced the greatest risk of eviction, the charity said. In each of these boroughs, one in 23 rented homes were “under threat” during the period in question – which worked out as 2,314 households in Enfield, and 1,647 in Barking and Dagenham. Shelter calculated the figures by comparing the total number of possession claims issued in each area in the last 12 months with the total number of renting households in each location. Read more on Welfare Weekly.

High Court Stops Council from Blocking Access to Social Housing for the Homeless

A family lost their privately rented home in Westminster because the benefit cap meant they could no longer afford their rent. Westminster Council agreed it had to accommodate them. But first it placed them in Enfield and then it applied a new rule blocking them from bidding for social housing in Westminster for 12 months. This happened despite the law requiring that homeless people are to be given a “reasonable preference” in the allocation of social housing in the area to which they apply. Westminster’s thinking was that it would use the 12 months to find homes for homeless applicants in the private rented sector – in order to bring its own duties to an end. The High Court has decided that Westminster’s new rule unlawfully blocked homeless people by denying them the preference the law requires them to have. The judge declared the new provisions (brought into Westminster’s Housing Allocation Scheme last year) to be unlawful. Read more on the Garden Court Chambers website.

Council Company Buys Homes for Homeless Families

A property company established by a London borough council to provide temporary homes at sub-market rents to people who would otherwise find themselves in expensive emergency accommodation has let out its first purchased property. Housing Gateway, established by Enfield Council, has presented the keys to the house to a homeless family; the family is said to be “happy and relieved” to have been moved to a “safe new temporary home”. The council said it is determined that Housing Gateway builds up a portfolio of properties that can be let at sub market rents to families who would otherwise be housed in emergency accommodation, sometimes in other boroughs, and at “considerable” cost to the council. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Enfield Tears Up Rules in Radical Attempt to Ease Housing Problem

Pushed into a corner by soaring prices, greedy landlords and a cap on benefits, one London council has embarked on a daring set of untested policies to provide more public housing.  Read all about how Enfield Council has developed a range of options – including buying houses which would not be eligible for Right to Buy - in an attempt to counteract the ruinous costs of homelessness, on the Guardian website.

Council to Launch Company to Tackle Temporary Accommodation Crisis

Enfield Council is set to approve plans to set up a new housing company in an attempt to bring its temporary accommodation bill under control. Councillors will discuss proposals, which would see the council buying up local houses to provide homes specifically for homeless households, who currently cost the authority £3.3 million a year to put up. The council says this approach means it can work with the families to tackle the issues that have led to their homelessness in the first place. The goal is to then work with the families to find a more permanent and long-term home. Read more on 24dash.