Right To Buy Future Under Threat From £5bn National Discounts

Tenants have received discounts of nearly £5bn to help purchase their council home under Right to Buy (RTB) since the size of the discount was increased in April 2012, new analysis by the Local Government Association (LGA) reveals. The LGA warns the scheme faces an uncertain future unless councils are given the flexibility to set discounts locally and retain 100% of sales receipts to fund replacement homes. The national RTB discount, set by government, currently averages 42% of market value. Since the Government increased the size of the RTB discount in April 2012, the average discount on a property has increased by 137% to more than £63,000. Read more on the LGA website.

https://www.local.gov.uk/lga-ps5-billion-national-discounts-threatening-future-right-buy

Concerns Raised Over Threat Of Eviction For Many Tenants

More than 352,000 rental sector tenants in England have faced the threat of losing their home over the last year - equating to one tenant every 90 seconds - according to analysis from Shelter. The charity, which used Ministry of Justice figures to make the findings, said that one in every 55 rented households in England was put at risk of losing their home over the last year. Shelter's calculations are based on the number of possession claims issued by landlords in courts over the last year.Possession claims do not necessarily end in the tenant being evicted, although Shelter's figures suggest that in around one in three cases tenants do end up losing their home. Read more on the BT website.

Healey Warns Councils About Housing Bill Effects

Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Minister for Housing, John Healey MP, has written to all council leaders in England warning of the threat to local communities if the Housing Bill passes. Mr Healey warns of the “severe” effect of the bill on the ability of local communities to build the affordable homes they need, and urges them to speak up.  He wrote: “Simply put, this bill is one of the most centralising and anti-council pieces of legislation I have seen in my political career. It effectively ends a local authority’s ability to secure the mix of new homes needed in their local area and it will inevitably lead to fewer affordable homes when the need has never been greater.” Read more on 24dash.

Government Revives Local Funding Plans

Inside Housing understands that civil servants at the DWP plan to commission research to kickstart proposals that have made little progress since 2011. Plans to localise cash for supported housing raised significant concern among providers in a consultation exercise carried out three years ago. In the 2011 consultation the DWP suggested that supported housing could be paid for through the local housing allowance with a fixed ‘top-up’ to recognise the higher costs of services such as 24-hour sleep-in support. At the time, housing organisations including Framework, a specialist homelessness charity, warned that such a change would ‘pose a serious threat to the stability and well-being of thousands of vulnerable people’.  Read more on Inside Housing.