Housing Association Shared Ownership Sales Rise Almost 10% In 2020

Housing association (HA) shared ownership sales saw a near-10 per cent rise across England during 2019-20, with a significant increase seen in sales in outer London. A total of 12,396 first tranche shared ownership units were sold over the period in England – an increase of 1,090 sales. The data is based on the Regulator of Social Housing’s statistical data return (SDR) for 2020. It showed that the bulk of shared ownership sales took place outside the capital (80 per cent), with London accounting for 19 per cent of sales. Read more on the Social Housing website.

https://www.socialhousing.co.uk/insight/special-report-housing-association-shared-ownership-sales-rise-almost-10-in-2020-72787?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60 

Company Issues Apology After ‘No DSS’ Advert

Housing association Great Places has been forced to issue a public apology after its letting agent arm posted ‘no DSS’ advert. High street agency Equity Housing, which advertises properties for sale and rent on behalf of Great Places, other registered providers and private landlords, posted an advert for a private rented property that stated individuals on benefits would not be accepted as tenants. The listing, which was posted on behalf of a private landlord, included a description of the Stockport-based property followed by the phrase “full-time applicants only and no DSS considered”. Read more on the Property Industry Eye website.

https://propertyindustryeye.com/company-issues-apology-after-letting-agent-posts-no-dss-advert/

HA Rent Arrears Could Rise By £330m After Universal Credit Switchover

 Rent arrears among housing association tenants in England could rise by £330m after the switchover from legacy benefits to Universal Credit is complete, the National Housing Federation (NHF) has warned. A survey of housing associations found that the number of tenants claiming Universal Credit for help with their rent costs increased by 83% between June 2019 and September 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. The increase means households claiming Universal Credit accounted for 28% of all occupied general needs homes owned by housing associations as of September last year. Of these, 60% had fallen behind on rent compared with 36% paying by other means including housing benefit. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/housing-association-rent-arrears-could-rise-by-330m-after-universal-credit-switchover-nhf-warns-70420?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

Regulator Downgrades HA Hit By Criminal Fraud Worth Nearly £1m

A housing association that fell victim to criminal fraud has been downgraded for governance by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) after suffering a “significant financial loss”.  Red Kite Community Housing has said that the loss, which it attributed to human error, is believed by current assessments to have totalled £932,691.48. It said “all indications” were that criminals had been able to launch the fraudulent attack in August because of “a breach of an external source’s computer systems”. In its regulatory judgement, published today, the RSH downgraded the provider to G2, from G1, citing a “basic failure in [Red Kite’s] system of internal controls”. Read more on the RSH website.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/861113/Red_Kite_Community_Housing_Limited_RJ_29.01.20.pdf

Nottingham Association Becomes Latest To Join Housing First Scheme

Housing First models are continuing to gain traction across the UK. Now, Midlands based Longhurst Group have announced that they are the latest to join the scheme in bids to help tackle the issue on the streets of Nottingham. The Housing First model has been launched in Nottingham by Opportunity Nottingham, a service that works with people facing multiple disadvantage due to a mixture of complex needs; including mental ill-health, homelessness, substance misuse and involvement in the criminal justice system. Mark Garner, Project Manager for Opportunity Nottingham said: “Opportunity Nottingham is delighted to be launching this scheme in the City with the support of a number of social housing providers and Nottingham City Council.” Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/association-becomes-latest-to-join-housing-first-scheme/

and Speye Joe

https://speyejoe2.wordpress.com/2019/06/03/widdecombe-can-cure-gayness-she-probably-thinks-housing-first-can-work/

Housing Association Asks Tenants For Extra Rent To Avoid Universal Credit Issue

A housing association in the North West has asked its tenants to pay extra rent, to avoid slipping into arrears next year because of a Universal Credit technicality.  New Charter Homes, which owns around 16,500 homes in Tameside and became part of Jigsaw Group last year, made the plea in social media posts last week. It said tenants claiming Universal Credit would need to pay “a little extra each week” as a result of an extra rent week in 2019/20. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/housing-association-asks-tenants-for-extra-rent-to-avoid-universal-credit-issue-60554?utm_source=Ocean%20Media%20Group&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=10378893_IH-DAILY-14-3-2019-GR&dm_i=1HH2,66GEL,8CKJV9,OBGVV,1

Housing Associations Must Prepare For ‘Disorderly Brexit’, Warns Regulator

Speaking at the Social Housing Conference, Simon Dow, interim chair of the regulator, said stress-testing and preparing for the worst-case scenarios was vital for housing associations. Mr Dow referred to the Bank of England’s scenarios, picking out specifically its predictions for what would happen to the economy in the case of a “disorderly Brexit”. According to the BoE, a “disorderly Brexit” would see GDP fall by 8%, unemployment would almost double to 7.5%, inflation would soar to 6.5% and house prices could fall by up to 30%. The Bank said it would then have to raise interest rates to 5.5% in order to compensate for the shock to the economy. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/housing-associations-must-prepare-for-disorderly-brexit-warns-regulator-59384  

Six Times More Affordable Homes Built Than Are Traded Or Sold

The asset management approach of housing associations means six times as many new sub-market rented homes are built as are sold, Savills’ research reveals. The findings come after housing associations received criticism in some media for selling social housing out of the sector for non-social housing use. Savills also found that the number of homes traded between social housing providers has fallen 50% in the past six years. As a result, Savills suggests “stock rationalisation should be higher on the agenda” to maximise financial capacity to build more affordable homes. Read more on the Savills website.

https://www.savills.co.uk/research_articles/229130/272268-0

Sector Scorecard Results Reveal Fall In Average Operating Margin

The ‘Sector Scorecard’ figures for housing associations show a fall in the sector’s overall operating margin.  The scorecard, which was developed by housing associations in 2016, provides benchmark figures for 15 areas which are seen as key to housing association business performance. Some of the metrics are used by the English regulator to assess the ‘value for money’ performance of housing associations. Last year the scorecard was piloted with 315 housing associations, with this year’s report taken from data provided by 329, owning 2.3 million homes and representing 80% of the sector by stock. It revealed the average operating margin has fallen more than two percentage points to 27.89% from 30.3% last year. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/sector-scorecard-results-reveal-fall-in-average-operating-margin--59307?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

May’s New £2bn Funding Will Not Be Available Until 2022

The £2bn of funding for housing associations announced today by Theresa May will not be available until 2022, Homes England has said. The prime minister announced £2bn of funding for “long-term partnerships” with housing associations to build “tens of thousands” of affordable and social rent homes. A spokesperson for the government’s housing delivery agency said that the money will not be folded into the £9bn current Affordable Homes Programme, but will instead be available when that programme ends in March 2022. In Ms May’s speech, she will say that the funds could stretch through to 2028/29, suggesting that they will be part of a new six-year funding programme. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/mays-new-2bn-funding-will-not-be-available-until-2022-58170?utm_source=Ocean%20Media%20Group&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=9859894_IH-DAILY-19-9-2018-GR&dm_i=1HH2,5VBXY,8CKJV9,MYCC5,1

IFS: Rising Affordable Rents Have Driven Increase In Poverty

Rising affordable rents have been “a key driver” in a rise in relative poverty in the UK over recent years, a report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has found. Average housing costs for low-income families with children, it found, have risen four times faster than for middle-income families. The report added that “a key driver” of this change has been the recent increases in what it called “social rents” but which the researchers clarified meant “rents paid by households that live in council housing or housing provided by a housing association”. Read more on the IFS website.

https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/13075

Housing Association To Run Extra Care Right To Buy Sub-Pilot

A Midlands housing association will run a ‘sub-pilot’ to the regional trial of the Right to Buy extension among its extra care stock. Midland Heart, which owns around 33,000 homes, has agreed to give tenants in four of its extra care homes the opportunity to purchase their homes at a discount. The wider pilot, due to start in August, is only available for general needs tenants. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:LSnAUNZu7kkJ:https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/housing-association-to-run-extra-care-right-to-buy-sub-pilot-56839+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&safe=vss

Housing Group Facing Discrimination Legal Challenge

A leading Jewish housing association is being taken to court over its policy of providing homes only for Orthodox Jews, with its chief executive vowing to fight the case “tooth and nail”. The judicial review case, which will be heard by the High Court, has been brought by two non-Jewish families against the Agudas Israel Housing Association (AIHA) and Hackney Council. The case challenges the council’s decision not to allocate housing in AIHA properties to the claimants, and alleges Hackney’s arrangements are discriminatory in allowing AIHA only to allocate housing to members of the Orthodox Jewish community. Read more on the Jewish Chronicle website.

https://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/charedi-housing-group-in-stamford-hill-hackney-facing-legal-challenge-1.463966

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

Can Labour Deliver 100,000 Social Homes Annually Within Five Years?

This was the headline promise from the leaked version of Labour’s manifesto. How feasible is it? Labour seems to have stepped back from a much more ambitious target of delivering 500,000 affordable homes over a five-year parliament. The new pledge is still ambitious but appears much more realistic. It says ‘By the end of the next Parliament we will be building at least 100,000 council and housing association homes a year for rent or sale’. Let’s have a closer look at what it would require. Labour’s peak output was 61,090 in 2010/11, and the coalition managed 66,700 in 2014/15. Output fell sharply in the following year, to only 32,630, because the end of the previous financial year had been the cut-off date for the previous Affordable Homes Programme. Read more on the Red Brick blog.

OBR Says Autumn Statement Will Reduce HA Building By 13,000

Despite all of the welcomes from the housing association sector, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has delivered a big blow. They say: “The Autumn Statement includes a number of policies that are likely to affect housebuilding and residential investment. Dropping the requirement for housing associations to move to a shared-ownership model and abandoning plans to force higher rents on some tenants will both reduce the cash inflows available for housebuilding. Partly offsetting that, additional grant funding and other smaller measures will increase cash inflows and boost housebuilding. The net effect is to reduce cumulative housebuilding by housing associations by around 13,000 over the forecast period, with a boost next year becoming a drag by 2019-20.” Read more on 24housing.

Chancellor Urged To Build 80,000 Affordable Homes A Year

The Chancellor should invest in a scheme that could deliver 80,000 affordable homes a year for ‘just managing’ families in the Autumn Statement. As the UK prepares to leave the EU, JRF is also calling on the Chancellor to end the freeze on working-age benefits to help households cope with the rising cost of goods and services. The Government has said its priority will be supporting families on low incomes. JRF’s submission looks at four ways they could support that goal on November 23. A Housing White Paper is expected to be published at the same time. JRF recommends the Government invest £1.1 billion extra a year in affordable housing through a scheme called Living Rents, which links housing association and local authority rents to local wages, making them affordable to people earning the National Living Wage. Read more on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation website.

Housing Associations Could Borrow £7.4 Billion

The Government drive for increased new housing supply is putting political and financial pressure on housing associations to increase their housing delivery, a challenge the sector could be well positioned to respond to quickly by unlocking additional financial capacity, Savills says. New analysis by Savills suggests that up to £7.4 billion of additional borrowing could be secured against assets to be used to deliver more homes. Housing associations delivered 40,000 new homes in 2015/16, around a fifth of all new homes, with around 43 per cent outside the Affordable Housing Programme.  Savills calculates that this additional borrowing capacity is both supported by balance sheets and fundable from existing cashflow. Read more on the Savills website.

Sales Of Social Housing Increase By 8%

English social landlords sold nearly 22,000 homes in 2015/16, an increase of 8% on the previous year. The latest figures from the CLG say landlords sold 21,992 social properties in 2015/16, with the majority of the increase in sales driven by housing associations. This makes up 0.5% of the four million social housing stock. Housing associations sold 9,435 properties, an 18% increase on 2014/15 whereas councils sold 12,557 properties, a 1% increase. Download the figures from the GovUK website.

Welfare Reform Criticised As Social Housing Changes Approved

Government welfare reform came under fire as a council approved changes to its letting policy for social housing. Durham County Council has approved a raft of changes to its letting policy which aim to simplify the process of applying for new homes. The review of the system, which is used by County Durham’s housing associations, was carried out in response to impending changes to housing benefit. Alterations include changing the banding system to have fewer categories and changing the policy on rent arrears. Now, all arrears will be considered when deciding whether someone is an “acceptable tenant”. Previously it was set at eight weeks of arrears. Read more on the Northern Echo website.