Jenrick: Homelessness ‘More Of A Crisis Of Addiction And Mental Health’ Than Housing

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has been giving his views on tackling rough sleeping and homelessness in the country post-pandemic. Speaking at a Centre for Social Justice event, he said: “There is a lot to do and I need to get my other cabinet colleagues to support me as I don’t think this is just a housing crisis, this is also a crisis of mental health and addiction and there are also law enforcement issues. As well as trying to support people, we’ve got to take action against aggressive begging, gangs on the streets, individuals coming to this country to beg.” Read more on the HQN website.

https://hqnetwork.co.uk/news/jenrick-homelessness-more-of-a-crisis-of-addiction-and-mental-health-than-housing-4039 

Young Adult Carers' Housing Needs Still Overlooked

The housing needs of young adult carers are still being overlooked, according to a review by education and training think-tank the Learning & Work Institute. The institute warns that "unsustainable caring arrangements and breakdowns in family relationships" combined with a general shortage of housing options means some young adult carers are living in situations "which have a serious impact on their physical, emotional and mental health and wellbeing".  Despite this, "young adult carers do not appear to be recognised as a group requiring specific housing-related support," the policy review concludes. There is also no specific data on the extent of homelessness among the group. Read more on the Children & Young People Now website.

https://www.cypnow.co.uk/cyp/news/2007132/young-adult-carers-housing-needs-still-overlooked

Green Belt Earmarked For Homes 'That May Never Be Needed'

Swathes of green belt in the heart of England have been earmarked for new homes for people who may never exist, in a trend fuelled by the drive to double the number built annually nationwide, campaigners have warned. Fields bordering ancient woodlands are among more than a dozen sites, around Coventry, which have been released from anti-sprawl protections. They will be ploughed up to build more than 11,000 new homes based on population growth predictions that demographers warn are likely to be over-inflated. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/sep/09/green-belt-to-be-destroyed-for-homes-which-wont-be-needed

Brownfield Registers Identify Land For More Than 1 Million Homes

An analysis of Brownfield Land Registers confirms that there is enough space on brownfield land to build at least one million new homes, with more than two-thirds of these homes deliverable within the next five years.  Many of these sites are in areas with a high need for housing. This means that three of the next five years’ worth of Government housing targets could be met through building homes on brownfield land that has already been identified. The Campaign to Protect Rural England found that the 17,656 sites identified by local planning authorities, covering over 28,000 hectares of land, would provide enough land for a minimum of 1,052,124 homes. Read more on the CPRE website.

https://www.cpre.org.uk/media-centre/latest-news-releases/item/4768-brownfield-registers-identify-land-for-more-than-1-million-homes

Property Unaffordable For 100,000 Households A Year In England

Almost 100,000 households in England are being priced out of the property market each year because of a shortage of affordable homes to rent or buy, according to a report. Research by the estate agent Savills, shared with the Guardian, found the number of priced-out households had risen from its previous projection in 2015 of 70,000 a year. This was in part because of a change in how housing need is assessed, but also due to rising prices and stagnant wage growth. Read more on the Guardian website.

Housing: Construction – Parliamentary Written Answer

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to prevent land banking in local communities.

Alok Sharma: It is important to recognise that after planning permission for new homes is granted, a variety of factors can slow down delivery. Rather than focusing on a single issue, the Housing White Paper acknowledged that all parties in the development process need to play their part in speeding up the delivery of much-needed new homes. That is why the Housing White Paper set out a wide ranging approach to driving up build out of planning permissions. We have already taken important steps to help unblock sites, such as the introduction of the Housing Infrastructure Fund and we are considering how to take forward other elements of the Housing White Paper. In addition, we have recently consulted on what further action could be taken to increase build rates as part of our consultation on calculating local housing need. This consultation closed on 9 November and analysis of the responses is now underway.

Sharma To Face Commons Committee Over Housing Need

The CLG Committee will examine proposed changes to the way the need for new homes is calculated for each council in a one-off evidence session with housing minister, Alok Sharma. Government’s ‘Planning for the right homes in the right places’ consultation is aimed at finding a new standardised methodology for assessing housing need on a council-by-council basis, replacing inconsistent methods used across different authorities at present. The committee will question Sharma on Nov 1 ahead of the consultation closure on Nov 9. Read more on the Parliament website.

Planning For The Right Homes In The Right Places

The Government has launched its consultation Planning for the right homes in the right places. This builds on some of the proposals in the Housing White Paper and seeks views on changes to national planning policy to help local planning authorities and communities plan for and deliver the homes they need, including:

·         A standard method for calculating local housing need

·         Improving how authorities work together to meet housing need

·         How the new approach to calculating housing need can help authorities plan for the needs of particular groups

·         Proposals for improving the use of section 106 agreements

Download the consultation form the CLG website.

Planning For The Right Homes In The Right Places - Consultation

This consultation sets out a number of proposals to reform the planning system to increase the supply of new homes and increase local authority capacity to manage growth. Proposals include:

·         a standard method for calculating local authorities’ housing need

·         how neighbourhood planning groups can have greater certainty on the level of housing need to plan for

·         a statement of common ground to improve how local authorities work together to meet housing and other needs across boundaries

·         making the use of viability assessments simpler, quicker and more transparent

·         increased planning application fees in those areas where local planning authorities are delivering the homes their communities need

Download the consultation from the GovUK website.

Consultation On Assessing Local Housing Need Delayed

The CLG has confirmed the consultation on assessing local housing need has been delayed until Parliament returns in September. Speaking at the Local Government Association (LGA) conference, communities secretary Sajid Javid said the government would launch a consultation on a new way for councils to assess their local housing requirements in July. This was first announced in the housing white paper in February. Now, a spokesperson at the CLG has confirmed that the department “intends to publish the local housing need consultation when Parliament returns in September”. Read more on the Planning Portal website.

Councils Warn Of Now ‘Severe’ Need For Affordable Homes

Nearly all UK councils now say their need for affordable homes is either ‘severe’ or ‘moderate’. Lack of investment in genuinely affordable housing alongside deregulation of planning is reducing the ability for local authorities to secure the homes the nation needs. A report by APSE (Association for Public Service Excellence) – written and researched by the TCPA – finds that UK councils are becoming increasingly unable to meet demands for affordable housing. Overall, 98% of respondents describe their need as either ‘severe’ or ‘moderate’ with only 1% claiming that their need is not substantial. Download the report from the APSE website.

Compulsory Pay to Stay Scrapped – Parliamentary Statement

Gavin Barwell: “Social housing has a crucial role to play in supporting those in most housing need. To that end, powers were provided for in the Housing and Planning Act 2016 to introduce an income based rents policy, requiring local authorities to set higher rents for higher income council tenants. Since the summer, the Government has been reviewing this policy. We have listened carefully to the views of tenants, local authorities and others and as a result, we have decided not to proceed with a compulsory approach. Local authorities and housing associations will continue to have local discretion.” Read more on the Parliament website.

North Faces Housing Crisis Unless Powers Are Devolved

London’s housing crisis will move north unless radical powers are handed to mayors in Liverpool, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, experts have warned. The thinktank, Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), said ministers would miss their target of building 1m new homes by 2020 unless it devolved power over housing to the regions. The IPPR North study, Closer to Home, said the metro mayors, due to be elected in May 2017, should be given control over the 1.6m hectares of greenbelt land in England to alleviate the shortage of affordable housing. It found a huge gap between the amount of available brownfield land and the long-term housing need. Read more on the IPPR website.

Peers Overturn 20 Per Cent Starter Home Requirement

The government’s starter homes policy suffered serious setbacks in the Lords as peers voted through amendments to the housing and planning bill designed to safeguard affordable housing. One amendment would allow councils discretion over how many starter homes are required in new residential developments. The government had wanted the legislation to require that at least 20 per cent of new housing on larger sites would be starter homes. As a result of this change, planning authorities will be able to “grant planning permission for a residential development having had regard to the provision of starter homes based on its own assessment of local housing need and viability”. Read more on the Planning Portal website.

Councils Warn Of Rise In Homelessness And Waiting Lists

Homelessness will increase and housing waiting lists will rise as government housing policies combine to reduce the number of desperately-needed homes available to communities, councils warn in a snapshot survey published by the Local Government Association. The LGA poll asked councils what the impact of a range of government housing policies would have on their local area by 2020. 90 per cent of councils responding to the survey said reforms – including extending Right to Buy, cuts to social housing rents and Pay to Stay – will lead to a drop in the number of much needed council homes. 78 per cent predict that the reforms will lead to a rise in homelessness and demand for temporary accommodation (80 per cent) in their community while the majority (81 per cent) expect their council housing waiting lists will increase as a result. Read more on the LGA website.

Councils Do Not Think That Starter Homes Will Address Affordable Housing Need

Local councils, of all political parties, have agreed that the Government’s Starter Homes policy will hinder rather than help to tackle the growing need for genuinely affordable housing in England.

·         almost 80% of local councils do not think that Starter Homes should be classified as affordable housing and only 7% of councils think they will address the need for affordable housing in their local authority areas

·         Over two thirds anticipate that they will be building less social and affordable housing as a result of the Government’s plans to reduce social rents by 1% a year for the next four years

·         96% of councils described their need for affordable homes as severe or moderate

·         Nine out of 10 councils are concerned that the extension of the Right to Buy to housing association tenants will mean that there will be less socially-rented homes available

Read more on the Town & Country Planning website.

Starter Homes Will Be Out Of Reach For Majority Of Needy Families

Discounted starter homes could be out of reach for the majority of families in need of an affordable home in many parts of the country. First-time buyers will be able to buy 200,000 new starter homes over the next five years at a minimum discount of 20 per cent to the market value. Discounted prices will be capped at £450,000 in London and £250,000 elsewhere. The LGA said the national starter homes scheme could help some people onto the housing ladder but that crucial details are yet to be confirmed. It is concerned it will help the fewest numbers of people in areas where the housing affordability crisis is most acute and will be out of reach for many people in need of an affordable home in the majority of local areas. Read more on the LGA website.

Government Too Focused On Homeownership

Government is too focused on home ownership as an answer “no matter what the question is”, the president of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has said. Geraldine Howley, speaking at the annual CIH presidential dinner in London , called on the government to “think again” about a number of areas of its housing policy. Ms Howley said: “We must have a better housing solution for people unable to meet their housing needs in the market. “Government’s strategy is too focused on homeownership as the answer no matter what the question is.” Ms Howley criticised the government’s plans to introduce a Local Housing Allowance-linked housing benefit cap for the social sector, saying it “risks long-term damage, especially to supported and specialist housing”. Read more on the CIH website.

Cameron's Starter Homes Plan Is 'Disastrous' For Tenants Most In Need

Fewer affordable houses will be available to rent under plans outline by David Cameron . The Prime Minister's fresh assault on council housing will see new, affordable properties sold to first-time buyers rather than let to tenants. It could force low-income families onto the streets if they cannot get together a deposit to buy one of the new Starter Homes, and a shortage of social housing sends rents rocketing. Homes must be offered for sale at a discount of 20% below market rates, with a maximum price of £450,000 in London and £250,000 outside the capital. Purchasers must be first-time buyers aged under 40 and may not sell or rent out the property within the following five years.

Read more on the Daily Mirror website.

Planning Shortfall Could Hit 180,000 Homes

The planning system is not delivering homes where housing need and market demand is greatest, according to a new report. Research by real estate services provider Savills has identified a potential planning shortfall of just under 180,000 homes in England over the course of the next parliament. It found there was an annual shortfall of 35,562 homes in England, which, accumulated over the course of a five-year parliament, would give a shortfall of just under 180,000 homes. The report, ‘Beyond the Election: What next for planning?’, found the disparity is widest where housing need is greatest, and that the shortfall is against a planning target that is set significantly below actual need. Even where there are adopted housing targets, these targets are only 80% of what is needed, according to Savills.  Download a copy of the report from Savills website.