The Housing Association That Will No Longer Build Homes for the Poor

One of the largest housing associations in the UK has announced it would no longer build social housing. Instead, its chief executive said, it will only build homes for sale, for rent at full market rates or for shared ownership. Furthermore, Genesis housing association, which owns and manages about 33,000 homes around London and the south-east, will consider selling or raising the rents on its existing social homes once they become vacant. The organisation claims that government policies have forced its hand, particularly in light of the recent budget. This is strange when you consider that Genesis has funded much of the research that has influenced this government’s housing policy. To blame the government after you have sponsored thinktanks to successfully influence it is no excuse. In reality, it is part of a deliberate, profit-driven strategy that Genesis and other large housing associations have been following for some time. Read more on the Welfare Weekly website.

Minister Welcomes Latest Build To Rent Deal

Housing Minister Kris Hopkins has welcomed a deal that will get nearly 500 homes built specifically for private rent. This is the fourth deal under the Government’s £1billion Build to Rent scheme - and the largest to date. Overall through this innovative new fund, work will be underway on 10,000 new homes for private rent by 2015. Under the terms of the deal, Genesis Housing Association will receive £45.5million to build 485 homes for private rent across four sites in London and Chelmsford.  The homes will be a mix of one, two and three-bedroom properties. Read more on the HCA website.

Social Landlords Have Prostituted Themselves over ‘Build to Rent’

Last weekend a group of young professionals moved into a new development in London’s Stratford East. But they had not rented their own home in Stratford. Instead, the group of housing campaigners had entered the development to hold a party in protest at the government’s failure to tackle the rising cost of rent — and role of social landlords in that failure.  The development in question was an apartment block designed for private rent on the open market, but built and managed by Genesis Housing Group, a social housing provider. Rents on a two-bedroom property reportedly start at £1,700 a month. Based on affordability criteria set out by housing charity Shelter (roughly, that housing costs should only consume 35 per cent of take home pay) these properties would only be affordable to families with an income of £76,000. This is not the first housing protest that London has seen, and direct action will rise in line with rents. But it is arguably the most important: it is the first indication that social landlords may be conspiring in their own demise. Read more on the Spectator website.

Landlord Apologises For Eviction Letters

A housing association has apologised for the tone of letters sent to families in temporary accommodation which warned they could be evicted due to welfare reforms. The Guardian revealed Genesis sent out letters to a number of households in Haringey, one of four areas trialling the £26,000-a-year benefit cap. A spokesperson said the letters were intended to enable Genesis to guarantee the landlord full vacant possession at the end of the lease, a condition of Genesis’ lease obligations. This requires a section 21 notice to enable the landlord to regain possession of the property if the tenancy has to be terminated early due to rent arrears. The letters did not make it clear that if tenants pay their rent they will not be evicted. Read more on the Genesis website (see also posting immediately below this one).

Benefits Cap Leads To Eviction Notices in Trial Area

Tenants participating in a trial of the government's controversial benefit cap are being sent eviction letters because the welfare changes mean they "may not be able to afford the rent" and they may have to leave their homes within 14 days.  In the first tangible proof that the cap would lead to rising levels of homelessness, one of Britain's biggest social landlords, Genesis, has issued a warning to tenants in Haringey – a London borough chosen by ministers to test plans to limit benefit payments to £26,000 a year – saying that it will now need to start legal proceedings to "terminate our lease".  The letter from Genesis says it has been forced into taking these steps because of the "significant changes being currently introduced to the welfare benefit system". The letter warns that, if the tenants do not offer a defence, a court can force eviction within 14 days. Read more on the Guardian website.