Think Tank Wants Rent Controls And Lifelong Tenancies

Rent controls, lifelong tenancies, a public landlord database and an end to Section 21 are among the calls in a report by the New Economics Foundation. The think tank has outlined a number of proposals it wants political parties to adopt in order to reform what it describes as the “broken economy”. It proposes:

·         An end to Section 21 repossessions and the introduction of lifetime and open-ended tenancies.

·         The creation of a publicly accessible database of landlords and rents.

·         A model of rent controls that would limit rents within and between tenancies and bring rents down to levels affordable on local incomes.

Read more on the RLA website.

https://news.rla.org.uk/think-tank-wants-rent-controls-and-lifelong-tenancies/

Third Large Housing Association Offers Residents Lifetime Tenancies

Sanctuary Housing has become the third large housing association to offer lifetime tenancies to all its residents. From 1 April, the 100,000-home association will offer all 9,000 of its fixed-term tenants lifetime tenancies when their existing agreements come up for renewal. It follows similar announcements by L&Q and Peabody, two of London’s largest housing associations. These two landlords both decided to phase out fixed-term tenancies, which were introduced by the Localism Act in 2011. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/third-large-housing-association-offers-residents-lifetime-tenancies-60522?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

Social Rented Housing: Tenants' Rights – Parliamentary Written Answer

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of statutory rights of occupiers of social housing to succeed to a tenancy on the death of the previous sole or joint tenant.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Housing and Planning Act 2016 includes changes to the rules on succession that deliver a consistent approach across all local authority tenancies and ensure that common law partners are put on an equal footing with married couples and civil partners. When in force, all spouses and partners will have a statutory right to succeed to a lifetime tenancy. Local authorities will be able to grant additional succession rights, and where they do so the tenant will receive a five year fixed term tenancy.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-02-08/127649

Restore Lifetime Tenancies To Vulnerable Tenants, Say Peers

Ministers are being urged to give councils and housing associations back the right to offer lifetime tenancies to those they consider vulnerable. Peers are debating the issue of lifetime tenancies for those in social housing, which started to be phased out by David Cameron's Tory government. They will consider proposals to restore lifetime housing rights to those who have suffered domestic abuse. Council bosses want this to go further and cover other vulnerable tenants. These may be people with mental illness or disabilities. Read more on the BBC website.

Council Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Catherine McKinnell:To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what discretionary powers he proposes to allow local authorities to (a) provide older residents with lifetime local authority tenancies and (b) tailor fixed-term tenancies to suit local housing needs.

Gavin Barwell: We have introduced fixed term tenancies for all new council tenancies to ensure we get the best use out of our social housing stock and focus this valuable resource on those who need it the most for as long as they need it. The changes will apply to new tenants, but will not apply to existing lifetime tenants who remain in their own home or those required to move by their landlord. Where existing lifetime tenants choose to move, councils will be able to grant the tenant a further lifetime tenancy in their new home in circumstances to be set out in regulations. We have not finalised the draft regulations but expect these will include, for example, where tenants, including older people, downsize into a smaller home. Fixed term tenancies must be between two and ten years in length, or may be longer in the case of families with children, to cover the time a child is in school education. We will issue statutory guidance to set out the circumstances in which councils may grant longer term tenancies and expect this to include lettings to older people. Accompanying guidance will also make clear that, where a tenant's circumstances are broadly unchanged at the end of the fixed term, we expect landlords will normally grant a further tenancy in the same property.

More Than 30,000 New Build-To-Rent Homes Launching Across London

Thousands of young Londoners need homes but will never be about to own one. It’s a dilemma that developers are addressing with new-build, attractive, secure and fair-priced rentals launched for a new generation of lifelong tenants. More than 30,000 new flats for rent are under way or poised to be built in all but three London boroughs. And many more rental homes are coming down the pipeline. This renting revolution is confirmed by the latest research from property analyst BNP Paribas. Already, for the first time in decades, more people are living in private rented homes than in social housing. Read more on the Homes & Property website.

The Housing And Planning Act Is A Direct Attack On Local Government

Back in 2009, David Cameron said his party would give local councils much more power and responsibility. This agenda was the basis of the 2011 Localism Act. But those reforms have been shattered by the 2016 Housing and Planning Act. The end to lifetime council tenancies, the pay-to-stay rule increasing rents for council tenants earning more than £40,000, and provisions to force local authorities to sell off their high-value homes, will effectively kill off council housing. The extension of right-to-buy privileges to housing associations also threatens to cause a wider decline in affordable housing. But this is not just about housing. The new Act also has immediate implications for local democracy, by giving no fewer than 32 new powers to the secretary of state for housing. This means local authorities face further financial pressures and will lose vital powers once granted by the Localism Act. Read more on the Guardian website.

The Housing And Planning Act 2016 – What It Means For ALMOs

Now it’s been passed, what does the Housing and Planning Act 2016 mean for ALMOs and their councils? Well in many ways we still don’t really know.  This is because much of the detail is still to be set out in regulations, which are expected over the summer.  But from what we do know already there are a number of worrying impacts on ALMOs, their councils and the communities they serve.

·         The forced sale of higher value voids

·         Pay to stay compulsory for council tenants

·         Phasing out of lifetime tenancies

·         ALMOs as Registered Providers

Read more details on 24dash.

Government Extends Fixed-Term Tenancies For Disabled

Councils will be able to grant longer tenancies of up to 10 years to people with disabilities, a peer speaking on behalf of the government has announced.The Housing and Planning Bill will phase out lifetime council tenancies and replace them with tenancies of up to five years.Under the proposals, councils would have to grant tenancies to new tenants of between two and five years. However, Baroness Natalie Evans, government whip, told the House of Lords that the government would bring forward amendments to extend the maximum tenancy period to 10 years in “certain circumstances”. Baroness Evans said that the government would ensure this includes people with disabilities. More detail is expected in further readings of the bill. Read more on Inside Housing.

Housing Bill: The Controversial Legislation Explained

The Housing and Planning Bill is approaching its final stage in parliament before passing into law. But the wide-ranging legislation, touted as the most significant reform to the housing system for a generation, is hugely controversial. The government says its bill is a necessary shake-up of housing, which will cut spending and boost house-building and home ownership. Here are explanations of the most controversial elements of the Housing Bill.

·         Pay to stay

·         Right to rent

·         Starter homes

·         Ending lifetime tenancies

·         Right to buy and housing associations

·         Selling valuable council houses

To find out more about the above, read more on the International Business Times website.

Lords Propose Sweeping Housing Bill Changes

Peers have unveiled plans to block the controversial imposition of Starter Homes, Pay to Stay, the extended Right to Buy and the end to lifetime tenancies. More than 100 amendments to the Housing and Planning Bill from Labour, Liberal Democrat and crossbench peers targeting all the key reforms in the bill were published. Both Labour and Liberal Democrat peers have tabled amendments to entirely strike out provisions which would end lifetime tenancies in council housing, and force councils to sell high value properties. The Liberal Democrats have also moved to strike out Pay to Stay, while Labour has put forward amendments to substantially water down the policy. Read more on Inside Housing.

Appalling' Decision To Push Through Crucial Housing Law At 3am

The Tories have been slammed for an "appalling" decision to push through key stages of a housing law at 3am. Labour blasted ministers for rushing through a six-hour debate on the Housing Bill - which includes plans to end lifelong tenancies for council homes. The divisive law also launches 'affordable' homes costing £450,000 in London and paves the way for privatised planning applications. Yet key clauses will only be debated after midnight because the government refused to move the debate. Tory ministers also wrote 65 pages of new clauses and amendments "at the last minute", said furious shadow communities minister Roberta Blackman-Woods. Read more on the Daily Mirror website.

Cities Unite Against Attack On Council Tenants’ Lifetime Leases

Leaders of major English cities are demanding David Cameron ends his cruel attack on council tenants. Local authority chiefs from Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle have joined forces to issue direct calls for the PM not to axe lifetime tenancies. The Tory scheme, unveiled last month, would end the long-cherished right to a home for life for all new council tenants. MPs will vote on the measure next week as the Mirror continues our campaign for it to be ditched immediately. Read more on the Daily Mirror website.

Tories Ban Scheme Which Offers Residents A Council House For Life

The Tories are quietly banning a scheme which offers poor residents a council house for life. Lifelong secure tenancies - which meant tenants could keep council homes until they died and hand them on to their children - will be phased out in the Housing and Planning Bill. Instead councils will only be allowed to offer secure tenancies of two to five years and 'review' the tenant's circumstances before deciding whether to kick them out. When children or other relatives apart from a spouse inherit a tenant's home, the tenancy will be capped at five years - after which it could be handed on to someone else. Labour's shadow housing minister John Healey blasted the move. Read more on the Daily Mirror website.

Residents And Landlords Need Flexibility On Tenancies

If plans to scrap lifetime tenancies for new social housing tenants go ahead, landlords must be given the flexibility to support different tenants in different areas. It is vital that decisions about how fixed term tenancies are used can be made locally.  A strength of the current voluntary system is that it has allowed individual landlords to consider local circumstances and to use fixed terms to work towards a variety of different objectives in different areas. If the government is going to make the use of fixed terms mandatory, it is essential that it does so in a way that retains as much local flexibility as possible. This should also include some local flexibility to identify exceptions as, undoubtedly, there will be occasions where it is simply much more appropriate to continue using lifetime tenancies. For example, this might help to make downsizing into sheltered housing a more attractive option for some. Read more on the CIH website.

Social Housing: Future, What Future?

The government is preparing to regulate to prevent social landlords offering lifetime tenancies. This would mean that new tenants could only be offered a home for a period of five years or so. Very short-term tenancies make sense if stock is limited and you want to regularly check that it is only housing those who genuinely need it most urgently. There also seems to be a less charitable view in some quarters that, if social housing is an emergency safety net, life shouldn’t be too comfortable. Imposing fixed term tenancies could also cynically be seen as a further attempt to ensure that the positive features of social housing – first affordability, now security – are diluted to the point where the tenure becomes too diminished to be worth defending. The affordable council home for life eventually becoming a folk memory, along with outdoor loos and milk delivered to your doorstep. Read more on the Shelter blog.

Government Plans To Scrap Lifetime Tenancies

The government is planning to scrap lifetime tenancies for new social housing tenants in favour of fixed-term contracts. Under government plans, social landlords would no longer be able to automatically issue tenancies on a lifetime basis and would instead be forced to offer fixed-term lets for prospective tenants. Since 2012, councils and housing associations have been able to offer five-year fixed-term tenancies to new tenants. However, according to official figures, just 13% of new general needs social housing lets were made on a fixed-term basis in 2014/15, compared with 9% in 2013/14. Read more on the Independent website.

Government Seeks To Limit Use of Lifetime Tenancies

The Budget shows that the government will again review security of tenure. The Budget document said: ‘The government will review the use of lifetime tenancies in social housing to limit their use and ensure that households are offered tenancies that match their needs, and ensure the best use is made of the social housing stock.’ The previous coalition government’s Localism Act allowed social landlords to use fixed-term tenancies. The act required councils to develop a tenancy strategy under which associations must have regard to the council’s stance on tenure. Read more on Inside Housing.

Local Homes for Local People

Only people with a five year local connection to Hammersmith and Fulham (HandF) will be able to apply for a council house there from April.  Last month, HandF Council also stopped issuing lifetime social housing tenancies for new applicants, in one of the biggest housing policy shake-ups in living memory. The council will also be prioritising those making a significant contribution to the community, for example ex-service personnel and foster carers. At the same time, households earning above £40,200 will be prevented from accessing the housing register and instead directed towards low-cost home-ownership options.  Read more on the HandF website.

Council Ends Lifetime Tenancies for Social Homes

Lifetime social housing tenancies for new applicants are now a thing of the past in Hammersmith & Fulham.  And from April the Council will also be tightening the rules to make it easier for local people, who have a five year connection to the borough, to access social housing.  The Council is the first local authority in the country to bring in these radical changes simultaneously -with the Government now calling for other councils to follow its lead and introduce local connection rules.  From March 5 the Council is only issuing fixed-term tenancies of five years for new social housing lettings. This will be reduced to two years in certain cases.  From April, households earning above £40,200 will be prevented from accessing the housing register and instead directed towards low-cost home-ownership options. Read more on the H&F website.