Green Homes Grant Scheme Helped Just 15,000 Low-Income Households

The government’s flagship green homes grant scheme to help people install energy efficiency measures resulted in just 15,182 households on low incomes improving their property’s insulation, it has emerged. The £1.5bn scheme was designed to improve 600,000 properties but, according to data uncovered by the Liberal Democrats, only a small number of homes benefited from funding for much-needed improvements. In total 41,300 measures were installed, according to the figures, with low-income households benefiting from around half of the jobs. Launched in a blaze of publicity last year, the scheme offered homeowners in England vouchers worth up to £10,000 to make their homes more energy efficient or to replace old boilers. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/01/green-homes-grant-scheme-helped-just-15000-low-income-households 

Benefits Freeze Will Leave Tenants Facing Rent Arrears Of £1,000

Low-income tenants across much of Britain will be left hundreds of pounds worse off from next month due to the government quietly imposing a real-terms cut in housing benefit. From April, the government is freezing the amount of local housing allowance (LHA), meaning tenants will receive the same amount of money as last financial year, even where rents have gone up. LHA is paid to tenants in privately rented homes, including those on universal credit. In some parts of the country, tenants are set to lose more than £1,000 a year as a result of a combination of rising rents and the new benefit freeze. Read more on the Observer website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/mar/13/benefits-freeze-will-leave-tenants-across-britain-facing-rent-arrears-of-1000

First Homes Plan Could Hit Social Housing Numbers

Housing associations have raised concerns over the government’s plan to provide first-time buyers with heavy discounts on new homes, saying the programme could make it more difficult to provide homes for lower-income families in the future. In a consultation document, the government said that it would like to see more developer contributions used to fund the delivery of First Homes. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/sector-bodies-raise-concerns-that-first-homes-plan-could-hit-social-housing-numbers-64997

Thousands More People To Be Given Step Up Onto The Housing Ladder

A package of measures to help people on lower incomes get onto the housing ladder have been confirmed today by Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick, including;

·         Plans for a new national model for shared ownership that will help thousands of lower earners step onto the housing ladder

·         Social tenants moving into new homes will be given the chance to buy a share

·         Just a 10% minimum initial stake will be required, cut from 25% for all shared ownership homes

·         Plans to allow people to buy their home in 1% chunks – rather than 10% at a time

Read more on the GovUK website.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/thousands-more-people-to-be-given-step-up-onto-the-housing-ladder

Nine In 10 Homes Unaffordable For Families

The benefit freeze is pushing low income families to the brink, with more than nine in ten homes for private rent (94%) too expensive for those on housing benefit. And new NHF research reveals two thirds of these families (65%) are in work. Now, NHF is calling on the government to:

·         End the freeze and increase LHA payments so that they cover at least the bottom 30% of private rent homes in any local area

·         Commit to investing £12.8bn annually in building new social housing, so that fewer families have to depend on unaffordable and insecure privately rented accommodation

Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/housing-benefit-freeze-means-9-in-10-homes-unaffordable-for-families/

New Affordable Housing Definition Could Halve Rural Rents

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) says its stats show low income families living in communities across the countryside could save more than £31 million a year – if affordable rent levels were set according to the net income of tenants, rather than market rates. Analysis released by CPRE comes with a call for changes to how ‘affordable’ housing is defined. Currently, rents set at 80% of the standard market rate are classified as ‘affordable’, which is still out of reach for many families and those on low incomes. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/new-affordable-housing-definition-could-halve-rural-rents/

Housing Crisis Drives More Than 1m Private Tenants Deeper Into Poverty

More than a million vulnerable people on low incomes are being driven deeper into poverty after being shunted into the private rental sector due to an acute shortage of social accommodation. A report commissioned by the Nationwide Foundation, an independent charity, says that the shortfall in social housing has been met by a doubling in size of the private rented sector in the past 25 years. But this has forced more households, many on benefits with dependent children or a disabled family member, to pay significantly more for unsuitable housing. Download the report from the University of York website.

https://www.york.ac.uk/media/news-and-events/pressreleases/2018/the-evolving-private-rented-sector.pdf

Help to Buy Scheme – Parliamentary Written Answer

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to improve the accessibility of the Help to Buy scheme for lower-income citizens.

Kit Malthouse: Help to Buy: Equity Loan has helped almost 159,000 households buy a new-build home from its launch in spring 2013 until December 2017. The scheme enables prospective homeowners to buy a home with a deposit of 5 per cent. 81 per cent of sales have been to first-time buyers. The majority (59 per cent) of the households using the scheme have had household incomes of £50,000 or less. For people unable to afford to purchase a home fully, there is the option of shared ownership, by which they can purchase 25 per cent to 75 per cent of a home, with the option to buy further shares in their homes in minimum 10 per cent instalments, and in most circumstances, up to full ownership.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-07-23/167193

Benefit Freeze Puts Private Renting Out Of Reach For Low-Income Tenants

Even the lowest private rents are now out of reach for people on low incomes – putting thousands at increased risk of homelessness. Research from the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) showed that more than 90 per cent of Local Housing Allowance rates across Great Britain now fail to cover the cheapest rents, as they were originally designed to do. LHA rates were frozen for four years in 2016 and CIH is warning that they have fallen so far behind even the cheapest rents that private renting has become unaffordable for most low income tenants – putting them at risk of homelessness as they are forced to choose between basic living expenses and paying the shortfall. The organisation is calling on the government to review the policy and to end the freeze immediately. Read more on the CIH website.

http://www.cih.org/news-article/display/vpathDCR/templatedata/cih/news-article/data/Benefit_freeze_puts_private_renting_out_of_reach_for_low-income_tenants_and_risks_fuelling_homelessness

Low-Income Tenants Face 'Heat, Eat Or Pay Rent' Choices

Low-income tenants in the private rented sector face a “heat, eat or pay rent” problem because housing benefit rates have failed to keep up with the soaring cost of accommodation, a study has found. The four-year freeze on local housing allowance levels, which has been in place since April 2016, means some families must meet a shortfall of hundreds of pounds a month on their rent support, according to the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH). It said the ongoing housing benefit freeze meant even the lowest private rents were out of reach for many low-income families in most areas – making it more likely that tenants would be forced to choose between living necessities or paying the rent. Read more on the CIH website.

http://www.cih.org/news-article/display/vpathDCR/templatedata/cih/news-article/data/Scotland/Benefit_freeze_puts_private_renting_out_of_reach_for_low-income_tenants_and_risks_fuelling_homelessness

Universal Credit Flaws Leaving Families In Debt

Low-income working families are losing hundreds of pounds each year – and being wrongly denied free healthcare entitlements – because of flaws in the way universal credit is designed, campaigners say. The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG ) said arbitrary rules built in to the way universal credit is calculated leave some families unable to predict how much they will be paid each month, leaving households in debt and unable to budget. It can lead to claimants being wrongly benefit-capped – a penalty designed to “incentivise” jobless or low-earning households by severely limiting their benefits – because the system fails to spot they are working and earning enough. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/aug/06/universal-credit-flaws-leaving-families-debt-child-poverty-action-group

Low-Income Tenants Battle Soaring Rents

Low-income tenants are now spending an average of 28% of their wages on rent, up from 21% in the mid-1990s, new research indicates. They have been hit by substantial cuts to housing benefit, with government support expected to fall "further and further behind" the cost of housing, says the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Over the same period of time, the proportion of people renting homes privately has increased from 8% to 19%. Average private rents have gone up 33%. Download the report from the IFS website.

Solar Power Deal Will Lower Social Tenants' Energy Bills

Solar panels are to be installed in 800,000 low-income homes across England and Wales over the next five years, as part of a new government scheme. The Dutch firm, Maas Capital, is investing £160m in the project. The panels, which will be free to tenants, are expected to cut hundreds of pounds from energy bills, according to the UK firm Solarplicity. The first people to benefit from the scheme include residents of a sheltered retirement home in Ealing, west London. Read more on the BBC.

Housing Crisis Threatens A Million Families With Eviction By 2020

More than a million households living in private rented accommodation are at risk of becoming homeless by 2020 because of rising rents, benefit freezes and a lack of social housing, according to a devastating new report into the UK’s escalating housing crisis. The study by the homelessness charity Shelter shows that rising numbers of families on low incomes are not only unable to afford to buy their own home but are also struggling to pay even the lowest available rents in the private sector, leading to ever higher levels of eviction and homelessness. Download the report from the Shelter website.

One In Three ‘Rent-Burdened Brits’ Borrow To Cover Home Costs

Housing charity Shelter is calling for the next government to step in and help ‘rent-burdened Brits’. New figures from Shelter and YouGov show tenants are being driven into debt to keep on top of their rent, with over half a million low-earning renters borrowing from credit cards, overdrafts or friends and family in the last year alone. Huge numbers of low-earning private renters are only just managing to keep a roof over their heads, with a staggering 70% either struggling with or falling behind on rent. As private rents eat up income, 800,000 hard-pressed private renters are not even able to save £10 a month according to a Shelter analysis of government statistics. Read more on 24housing.

Devolution Deals 'Short Change Cities On Housing', Claims Report

The new metro mayors are being “short changed” on housing, according to a report by left-leaning thinktank the Smith Institute.  Its report, launched today, found the six city regions which go to the polls to elect new mayors next month face escalating housing shortages, particularly for those on low incomes. The report estimates at least £2.2bn of grant funding is needed to provide social housing in the regions. Greater Manchester is short by £831m, the West Midlands by £945m, Liverpool City Region by £249m, and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough by £162m. The current housing allocations provide virtually no funding for low-cost housing in the city region. Read more on Inside Housing.

3 Million Households Set To Benefit From Universal Credit Changes

Three million households across the country, including lone parents and those on the lowest incomes, are set to keep more of what they earn due to a £700 million boost to Universal Credit. From today (10 April) the taper rate, the rate at which a Universal Credit payment reduces as someone moves into work, will be lowered from 65p to 63p. The change means that some households could benefit by £425 a year. Read more on the DWP website.

Five Million Low-Income Workers Priced Out Of Renting And Buying

New analysis explores where in the country people in different jobs can afford to rent and buy in the face of spiralling housing costs. It shows how house prices in England more than doubled (+120%) between 2002 and 2016, while salaries only increased by 38% during the same period. This widening gap highlights how disproportionate house prices have now become to earnings to England, especially for those working in low-income roles. The report identifies three occupational groups (elementary workers, customer service workers and caring/leisure workers) whose experience of the housing market is characterised by a distinct lack of choice. Read more on the NHF website.

MPs Launch Official Inquiry Into Universal Credit

MPs have launched an official inquiry into universal credit amid growing concerns that design flaws in the new benefits system are leaving thousands of low-income claimants facing eviction and reliant on food banks. The Commons work and pensions committee said it was compelled to launch a full investigation after mounting evidence that built-in payment delays and administrative blockages were creating severe problems for claimants and landlords. An investigation this month found widespread evidence that thousands of tenants on universal credit were running up rent arrears and debts because they could not manage the minimum 42-day wait for a first payment. Read more on the Parliament website.

Growth Of Private Sector Renting And Poverty 'Closely Linked'

Is the story about poverty and housing now dominated by the problems of the private rented sector? The number of people living in poverty in the private rented sector has doubled in the past decade. Furthermore, most people in poverty in the private rented sector and owner occupation are in working families. The key statistics are: in 2014/15, the latest for which official poverty statistics are available, there were 4.5m people in poverty living in each of the three housing tenures, namely, the private rented sector, the social rented sector and owner occupation. Our 2016 poverty report showed that far more low income households in the private rented sector face what could reasonably be called “high” housing costs. Read more on the CIH website.