Older Buyers Being Excluded From Housing Market

 An estate agent says the housing market now has a hidden characteristic - an absence of homes that are friendly for older people. Loveitts Estate Agents says the issue is nationwide. In a statement it says: “With many inner-city properties being untenable for elderly or disabled people, matters have only been worsened by housing policy focusing prominently on helping first-time buyers.” Last year, NHBC registered a total of 123,151 new homes in 2020, compared to 160,319 in 2019.  Of those registered in 2020, just 1,942 were bungalows - the most popular form of home for many older buyers, especially those with mobility issues. Read more on the Estate Agent Today website.

https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2021/8/older-buyers-being-excluded-from-housing-market-warns-agency

Put People Before Process When Allocating Social Housing

Rules and processes designed to decide who gets access to social housing could be failing those in greatest need, according to new research from the Chartered Institute of Housing. In Rethinking Allocations, the CIH found that, faced with not enough genuinely affordable homes, councils and housing associations are forced to ration the housing they have – and that the way they allocate these homes can exclude some very vulnerable people. There are at least four million households in England waiting for social housing, and this number is growing all the time. Download the report from the CIH website.

http://www.cih.org/resources/Rethinking%20allocations.pdf

Working Families Shut Out Of Help-To-Buy

A third of working private tenants cannot afford to take advantage of three government flagship schemes to help them own a home, a study by the housing charity Shelter reveals. The help-to-buy, starter homes and shared ownership schemes are too expensive for more than 830,000 of the “treadmill families” for whom they were intended, according to an analysis of the official family resources survey and data on households with below average income. Help-to-buy allows people to buy with a 5% deposit and a government equity loan of 20% of the price, while starter homes are sold at a 20% discount to under-40s. Shared ownership allows them to buy 25-75% of a property and pay rent on the rest. Read more on the Times website.

Inflation: Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Dr Andrew Murrison:  To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to reflect house prices in the calculation of inflation.

Simon Kirby: Inflation statistics are produced independently of government by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The current main measure of inflation is CPI. This does not include house prices as these are an asset price and in line with international practice are not included in a consumer price index. However, it does include some costs associated with housing, such as rental prices and the costs of renovating and repair and maintenance of homes. The ONS also produces CPIH, which does include housing costs but is currently undergoing development work after the UK Statistics Authority found faults in its production.

Protect Housing For Vulnerable People

CIH is urging Chancellor George Osborne to use next month’s (March) Budget to exclude supported housing from plans to cap housing benefit for social housing at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates (the amount of housing benefit people living in the private rented sector are able to claim). CIH’s budget submission details the potential impact on people who live in supported housing and the social landlords which provide it. One local authority estimated that new tenants in one of its extra care schemes would be left with a shortfall of up to £67 a week. A social landlord with a large care and support arm estimated that it will cost them upwards of £18m a year – making schemes unviable – while another said it would be left with a £9.5m shortfall. Read more on the CIH website.

Supported Housing Tenants Will Benefit From Rent Reduction

Stevenage Borough Council has pledged to defy the government and implement a 1% rent reduction for supported housing tenants. The government last month announced supported housing will be excluded from the four-year rent reduction for a year from April while the government considers the findings of its review into the costs of specialist housing. However Labour-led Stevenage Council, which set its rent levels the day before the government announcement, is now “reassuring” its supported housing tenants their rents will be reduced by 1% in 2016/17. The council has 959 supported housing properties and has estimated the rent cut will cost £79,000, which will come out of its housing revenue account. Read more on the Stevenage BC website.

Clarification From CLG On Supported Housing Rent Reduction

Following the Ministerial announcement that supported housing would be excluded from the 1% rent cut for 2016/17, we've had lots of questions about the definition of supported housing. All the exceptions will be confirmed in regulations and we expect these to be available in the next few weeks, however in the meantime CLG has provided the following statement of clarification:

"Our intention is that this be a wide definition.  All supported housing as currently set out in the rent standard guidance will be excepted from the rent reduction for a period of 1 year and providers should use this as a guide as they set rents for 2016-17. The exact definition will be defined in regulations. For the purposes of clarity we intend that the exception will include though not necessarily be limited to:

·         domestic violence refuges and other specialist accommodation based support for domestic violence victims

·         hostels and other accommodation for the homeless

·         sheltered accommodation for older people

·         supported accommodation for young people

·         extra care housing,

·         accommodation for people with mental health or drug/alcohol problems,

·         accommodation for people with disabilities

·         accommodation for ex-offenders and people at risk of offending.

Ministers have confirmed that alms houses, cooperative housing associations and community land trusts will also benefit from the year long exception. Read more on the NHF website.

Lack Of Affordable Homes Will Exclude 350,000 From Housing Market By 2020

At least 350,000 households will be excluded from the housing market by 2020 because of a lack of affordable homes to rent or buy, according to a new report. The figures, which were published as property website Rightmove reported the smallest November slowdown in asking prices in four years, underline how the rising cost of all private sector housing is locking out those on low and middle incomes. Analysis by property firm Savills shows that, over the next five years, 70,000 new households a year will be unable to afford to rent or buy homes at a market rate unless assisted in some way. This means that 350,000 will need some form of housing priced at below market rate by 2020, the firm said. Read more on the Guardian website.

No Affordable Housing in New Garden Cities Is Big Disappointment

The housing crisis is most acute for those trying to find decent homes on low incomes. Many people are locked out of the market and we are no longer building anything like enough social housing to meet demand. This is why the government's decision not to include affordable housing in its three new garden cities is so disappointing, and goes against the very purpose of garden cities. Garden cities were founded on the principle of providing high-quality homes in a healthy environment for those in most housing need. Unlike most modern housing, garden cities are aimed at encouraging mixed communities in homes which are genuinely affordable for everyone. This is partly about affordable homes for sale but, to make a real difference, the majority of homes in new garden cities would be available for social rent. Read more on the Guardian website.