Government Policies Contribute To Housing Inequality

Welfare and immigration policies are contributing to sharply unequal access to affordable housing among Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has found. Analysis concluded that a quarter of Black, Asian and minority ethnic workers, excluding those of Indian origin, are paying unaffordable housing costs compared with 10% of white workers. The study also found that the issue is a UK-wide problem not only confined to the capital, with two in 10 Black, Asian and minority ethnic households living in unaffordable housing across the country. Download the briefing from the JRF website.

https://www.jrf.org.uk/file/58774/download?token=Obw_6Nkv&filetype=briefing 

Nine In 10 Homes Unaffordable To Families On Housing Benefit

Fewer than 10% of homes are affordable to families needing housing benefit in one third of areas across Britain, according to new analysis. The findings come as a new poll from Crisis and Joseph Rowntree Foundation reveals nearly three quarters (73%) of the public agree that increasing housing benefit so people don’t lose their homes in the first place is better than spending on emergency accommodation. According to reports, staying in emergency or unsuitable temporary accommodation, such as hostels and B&BS, affects 61,000 out of the 170,000 families and individuals experiencing the worst forms of homelessness in Great Britain. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/nine-in-10-homes-unaffordable-to-families-on-housing-benefit/

The Tories Are Offering A 'New Deal' On Housing... Without A Deal

In the last 24 hours, housing professionals and charities like Shelter and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation have joined Labour in responding to the Government’s Green Paper on social housing by asking ‘where exactly is the social housing?’. After months of consultation and preparation, the best this Government can offer is that those already in social housing can compare their landlord to other landlords. While important, it doesn’t even scratch the surface of doing what needs to be done to start resolving the crisis for the 1.2million people parked on council waiting lists and 1.7million in unaffordable private rental properties – which is to build more council and social homes. Read more on the Huff Post website.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/hosuing-new-deal_uk_5b743435e4b02b415d746d8c

Social Housing Is Unaffordable Now In Parts Of England

The government’s squeeze on poorer households means that social housing is unaffordable for some households on benefits. The annual Homelessness Monitor report, published by Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, finds that councils across the country support the aims of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, but face mounting pressures as they grapple with their new duties. For the first time, single homeless people have clear entitlement to help from local authorities to prevent and relieve their homelessness. Growing pressure on temporary accommodation, and a sharp rise in B&B placements reflect a dramatic shrinkage in the settled housing options available to local councils. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2018/apr/24/even-social-housing-unaffordable-england-homelessness

Majority Of Councils Struggling To Find Homeless Housing

The majority of councils in England are struggling to find permanent housing for homeless people, a new report from Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has revealed. Out of 186 councils surveyed 70% said they had difficulties finding social housing for homeless people last year, while 89% reported struggling to find private rented accommodation. The problem of rising homelessness is not limited to London, with only 40% of councils in London reporting the number of people seeking help had risen during the past year compared with 76% in the Midlands, 70% in the south and 62% in the north. Download the Homeless Monitor 20118 from the Crisis website.

https://www.crisis.org.uk/media/238700/homelessness_monitor_england_2018.pdf

Reverse Universal Credit Cuts, Iain Duncan Smith Tells Chancellor

The former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith has warned the chancellor that he risks undermining the whole purpose of welfare reform if he fails to reverse cuts to universal credit (UC) in his spring statement. Philip Hammond is under mounting pressure from across the party to use better than expected tax revenues to reverse cuts made after the 2015 election. Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that 340,000 people could be taken out of poverty by reversing the cuts to work allowances. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/mar/13/reverse-universal-credit-cuts-iain-duncan-smith-tells-chancellor

New Research Centre To Inform UK Housing Policy

ESRC, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation have announced the new UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHE). The national research centre, which will be independent from government and other interests, is a collaboration between nine UK Universities and four non-HEI organisations and will have staff located at five hubs across the UK in Glasgow, Sheffield, London, Cardiff and Belfast. CaCHE will be led by the University of Glasgow. CaCHE will advance knowledge of the housing market, provide robust evidence to inform housing policy and practice across the UK, and will join together a comprehensive range of stakeholders with the goal of tackling housing problems at a national, devolved, regional, and local level. Read more on the ESRC website.

Councils Warn Housing Shortfall And Benefit Cuts Fuelling Rising Homelessness

Almost two thirds (64%) of councils across England are struggling to find social tenancies for homeless people, while half find it ‘very difficult’ to assist applicants into privately rented accommodation, according to a report by Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). The report, which includes evidence from 162 of England’s 326 local authorities, reveals that councils are finding it particularly difficult to house homeless young people and large families, with 85% of responding councils having difficulties assisting single people aged 25-34 into accommodation and 88% finding it difficult to house large families. Read more on the Housingnet website.

Housing Crisis Fuels Record Number Of Working Families Living In Poverty

Britain’s housing crisis has driven the number of people living in poverty despite being in a working family to a record 7.4 million, according to new research for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The annual Monitoring Poverty & Social Exclusion report shows that 3.8 million workers are living in poverty, more than one in 10 of all people in employment.  In total, 13.5 million people – more than one in five of the UK’s population – are living in poverty. Overall levels of poverty have remained flat compared to 2010, thanks to the economic recovery – but in-work poverty has risen by 1.1 million over the same period. The rise has been driven by the housing crisis and in particular high costs and insecurity in the private rented sector. Read the report online at the JRF website.

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.

Poverty After Housing Costs By Housing Tenure

Since 2002/03 the number in poverty in all but owned with mortgage tenure types has decreased. While the proportion of those in poverty after housing costs in the social rented sector fell by 7.5 percentage points between 2002/03 to 2014/15 - the largest fall across all tenure types – the poverty rate in the social rented sector remains higher than any other tenure type. The proportion of those in poverty in the private rented sector is 36%, a decrease of 2.5 percentage points. Among those owning their properties outright, the proportion of those in poverty fell by 5.6 percentage points to 11%, while the figures for those owning a property with a mortgage remained unchanged. Read more on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation website.

1 In 4 Forced Council House Sales Could Be Bungalows

The Housing and Planning Bill will compel Local Authorities to sell off high value housing stock as it becomes vacant to fund the Right to Buy extension for Housing Association tenants. But new analysis shows that high demand for bungalows will mean that homes lived in by older people, in particular those who have a sickness or disability, are almost three times more likely to be sold off and will be more difficult to replace. The numbers are drawn from Understanding the likely poverty impacts of the extension of Right to Buy to housing association tenants, a report written for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The report finds that Bungalows make up 9% per cent of Local Authority owned housing, but are likely to make up 25% of high value property sales due to their higher cost and more frequent vacancies.  Read more on the JRF website.

Private Rental Sector Insecurity 'Causes Surge In Homelessness'

"Chronic" insecurity in the private rented sector in England has led to a fourfold increase since 2010 in the number of households forced into homelessness when tenancies end. Loss of a private tenancy is now the leading cause of homelessness in England, with the 16,000 households affected making up around a third of the 54,000 accepted as homeless by councils in 2014/15, the annual Homelessness Monitor by the charity Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found. They warned that local authorities were "struggling to cope" with rising numbers of single homeless people, with 88% saying they often or sometimes find it difficult to help those aged 25-35 and 87% those aged 18-24. Two-thirds of English councils reported that changes to the welfare system under the coalition government from 2010-15 had increased homelessness in their area. Read more on the BT website.

Impacts Of Right To Buy On Housing Association Tenants

In July 2015, the Government confirmed the introduction of RTB level discounts for housing association tenants. The funding to compensate them should be made available by the forced sale of higher value local authority properties when they become vacant. Government intends that sold off stock will be replaced on a one-for-one basis. Importantly though, the replacement stock will not necessarily be of the same tenure as the housing it replaces.  A JRF report investigated the impacts of these policies under three scenarios:

1: Replacements built within three years and let at the same rents as the stock it replaced

2: Replacements built within three years and is let at Affordable Rents.

3: Replacements built for sale as shared ownership.

Although 1.3 million housing association tenants are gaining the RTB, JRF estimates that only around 180,000 of these appear to be able to afford to exercise this. Read more on the Sustainable Homes website.

How To Make Right To Buy Work For Those In Poverty

A combination of selling council houses as they become vacant and Housing Association homes being sold off under the new Right to Buy risks reducing the number of new lettings by up to 19,100 per year.  Will those on low incomes will be able to afford replacement homes?  If replacement homes are for shared ownership or let at a market-linked rent rather than the current social rents, then the answer is probably not.   Just 3% of new social renters could afford to buy a shared ownership property. In real terms, this means after five years we’ll have up to 13,000 more families stuck in homeless accommodation, and 61,000 more paying an average of £1668 a year more to rent in the private sector. But, if the new homes are let at the same rents as the homes they replace, Right to Buy could actually increase the number of low cost homes available to rent. Read more on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation website.

Number Of Young People Living In Poverty Up 400,000

The number of young people living in poverty in the UK has rocketed by 400,000 in the last ten years, according to a damning new report. Research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) shows that young people are facing worse life chances than their parents, with more people aged 16-24 living in poverty than those aged 65 and over. There are a total of 13million people living in poverty after housing costs, which is roughly unchanged on a decade ago but helped largely by a fall of 600,000 in the number of older people in poverty – the largest fall of any age group. JRF says there have been “fundamental shifts in the causes of poverty”, highlighting a lack in affordable homes and poor opportunities for young people to advance in education or at work. Read more on the Welfare Weekly website.

Likely Poverty Impacts Of The Extension Of Right To Buy

New Joseph Rowntree Foundation research explores the impact of Right to Buy (RTB) to housing association tenants in need of low-cost rented homes. It also explores the likely impact on housing supply. The report shows that:

·         around 1.3 million housing association tenants will gain the RTB, but only around 180,000 of these are eligible and able to afford to exercise it;

·         total uptake of the Right to Buy over the first five years of operation is estimated at 128,000;

·         around 10 per cent of local authority housing nationally is high value for its size and region.

·         if social rented homes are replaced with Affordable Rented ones, rent levels, poverty and housing benefit costs will all increase;

·         if social rented homes are replaced with shared ownership or Starter Homes these will not be affordable to households who would otherwise have accessed the social rented homes

Download a copy of the report from the JRF website.

Generation Rent Lives To Fight Another Day

Generation Rent has raised enough money to keep campaigning for private renters across the UK, amassing nearly £18,000 in donations. A month ago our future looked very bleak, with no guarantee that we would be able to survive past September. The team here has thrown everything we had at fundraising and we have been humbled by the response.  Since we launched our emergency crowdfunding campaign at the end of July, 371 people have donated a total of £17,982. With our grant from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust of £45,500, these funds allow us to continue our work in London and nationally with a team of two: director Betsy Dillner and communications manager Dan Wilson Craw.  Read more on the Generation Rent website.

Generation Rent Awarded £45k Grant

Generation Rent has been awarded a grant from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd to fund its London campaign it has announced. The grant of £45,500 will support Generation Rent’s campaign for rent controls ahead of the Greater London elections in 2016. The Trust exists to correct imbalances of power and strengthen the hand of organisations striving for reform. As the grant is intended for Generation Rent's London work, it does not count towards the organisation's wider crowdfunding campaign, which seeks to raise £60,000 by 31 August. Read more on the Generation Rent website.

Charity Calls for S106 Changes to Ensure More Affordable Homes

Viability assessment guidelines should be introduced to make it more difficult for developers to reduce affordable housing in planning agreements, top research charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has proposed. It has published a report on planning obligations (s106 agreements) which concluded that recent changes to the planning system have made it more difficult for planning agreements to ensure homes are built for those on the lowest incomes. The charity argued that the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), introduced by the coalition government, has led to negative impacts, including a greater emphasis on viability assessments, giving developers more ability to renegotiate agreements if they can show they make the scheme unworkable.  Download the report from the JRF website.