Section 21: Vulnerable Will Be Hit By Squeeze On The Rental Market

Vulnerable tenants at higher risk of rent arrears will be hit hardest by plans to change the way landlords can repossess properties. According to one of the largest ever non-government surveys of landlords and agents 84% said that plans to scrap Section 21, ‘no explanation’ repossessions would make them “more selective” about the tenants they rent to. The RLA, which conducted the survey has warned that this means that landlords would be less likely to rent to those considered to be of higher risk of rent arrears or causing damage to a property, such as tenants with pets.  Read more on the RLA website.

https://news.rla.org.uk/section-21-vulnerable-will-be-hit-by-squeeze-on-the-rental-market/

Fears Over Rogue Landlords 'Making A Quick Buck' From Most Vulnerable

Landlords have been urged to take more care of their tenants and not just look to “make a quick buck” by letting out substandard properties. In 2017/18 Bradford Council’s Housing Standards Team received 1,827 service requests relating to the poor condition of housing in the district. This was a seven per cent rise on the previous year. And in the first nine months of 2018/19 the service has received 1,590 service requests. Mould, poor heating and fire risks were the most common reason for call-outs, and officers can force landlords or property owners to bring the buildings up to standard. Most of the properties in question were privately rented. Read more on the Bradford Telegraph & Argus website.

https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/17531787.fears-over-rogue-landlords-making-a-quick-buck-from-most-vulnerable/

Law Fails To Stop Rogue Landlords

Convicted landlords who have been ruled unfit to rent out their properties are continuing to operate by exploiting loopholes in the law that is supposed to protect the most vulnerable tenants. The rogue owners are collecting rents – often funded by taxpayers via housing benefit – despite being convicted of housing offences and failing to pass the “fit and proper” person tests required by housing legislation in England and Wales. Because of the way the law is written, this is usually perfectly legal. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/oct/23/rogue-landlords-rental-law-guardian-itv-news

Industry Pours Scorn And Derision On Fees Ban Consultation

The government’s consultation on its proposed ban for fees levied on tenants by agents has been greeted with derision and contempt by a string of industry bodies. Isobel Thomson, chief executive of the National Approved Letting Scheme, described the proposed ban as “a misguided attempt to help tenants which will only serve to hit the most vulnerable and make their access to the private rented sector even less attainable.” Meanwhile the Residential Landlords Association issued a statement claiming that the last four housing ministers - including the current one, Gavin Barwell - had publicly opposed a fees ban. Read more n Letting Agent Today.

Rents Are 'Out Of Step' With Incomes

Vulnerable tenants are being pushed out of the housing market as cuts to benefits and rising costs mean rents are “increasingly out of step” with household incomes, a leading industry body has warned. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said those on low incomes faced further difficulties as its members were predicting that rents would rise by more than 20% over the next five years. Rics said around a third of members it had polled thought homeless people and those on housing benefits had seen their access to rented properties fall. A key reason cited by respondents was cuts to government support for housing costs. Download the survey from the RICS website.

Minister Reveals 'Trusted Partner' Landlords

The government has revealed the social landlords piloting a scheme to stop vulnerable Universal Credit claimants falling into debt. The DWP have released a list of councils and housing associations taking part in the ‘Trusted Partner’ pilot, to allow ‘trusted’ social landlords to receive vulnerable tenants’ benefit direct before they fall into arrears. Universal Credit directs housing benefit towards the claimant. This has concerned housing associations, which say that some vulnerable tenants will be unable to manage their finances and fail to pay their rent. Under current Universal Credit rules, landlords can apply to have the housing benefit directed straight to them instead of the claimant, but by then the tenant has commonly fallen into arrears of eight weeks or more. Read more on Inside Housing.

Social Housing Benefit Cap Will Put Thousands On Streets

Thousands of homeless people will be evicted from hostels and supported housing as a result of government plans to cap housing benefit payments to vulnerable tenants, charities are warning. The St Mungo’s charity said the local housing allowance (LHA) cap would lead to widespread bed closures, triggering a massive increase in rough sleeping. It runs more than 2,000 supported housing units in London and the south-east, where housing, support and sometimes care services are provided as an integrated package. The warnings come amid increased concern over rising homelessness. The latest official figures show a doubling in the number of rough sleepers since 2010. Read more on the Observer website.

Private Rented Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure private landlords do not exploit vulnerable tenants.

Brandon Lewis: We are determined to crack down on the small number of landlords that let unsafe and sub-standard accommodation. The Housing and Planning Bill will establish tough new measures, including a database of rogue landlords and property agents, banning orders for serious or repeat offenders, a stricter fit and proper person test, extending Rent Repayment Orders and introducing civil penalties of up to £30,000. In addition, we have made nearly £12 million available to local authorities to help them tackle rogue landlords in their areas. Since 2011, nearly 40,000 inspections have taken place with over 3,000 landlords facing further enforcement action or prosecution through renting out unsafe, squalid and often illegal property.

Government Confirms Trial To Limit UC Impact

A government trial that protects social landlords’ rent accounts against the impact of Universal Credit is to be piloted by 20 councils and housing associations. In its first public statement on the scheme, the DWP said it would run the ‘trusted partner pilot’ to help “vulnerable tenants who may struggle” with the government’s flagship welfare reform. Landlords including First Choice Homes Oldham have been testing the scheme in the north west of England. The new announcement expands the government’s trial to beyond the north west and into other parts of England, Scotland and Wales. For an opportunity to take part in the pilot, read more on the NHF website.

Richest Borough to Move Those in Temporary Housing to Cheaper Areas

The UK’s most expensive borough to live in, the royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea, plans to send some of its most vulnerable residents to live outside London because the soaring property market means it can no longer afford to house them. The Conservative authority, where the average home costs £1.4m, will spend £10m buying properties outside the borough for people who have been made homeless. It is searching for 39 homes in outer London, the M25 corridor and the home counties suitable for temporary accommodation, used by people who often suffer physical or mental health problems and are left without a roof over their heads. The policy has been fiercely criticised by housing activists, who say the use of temporary accommodation to house vulnerable tenants will isolate them from vital community support. Read more on the Observer website.

The Great Housing Benefit Scandal

Nine billion pounds of taxpayers' money goes to private landlords every year in housing benefit. And the Institute for Public Policy Research estimates that at least £3bn of that money is spent on poor quality accommodation annually. Despite the huge amounts at stake, councils across the country have little control over where housing benefit ends up. And some unscrupulous landlords are taking the cash while exploiting vulnerable tenants. Local authorities can find themselves effectively rewarding rogue landlords - handing out significant amounts of housing benefit with one hand, while trying to prosecute them for non-compliance with the other.  Read more on the BBC website.

Third of Homeless Are Tenants Thrown Out By Private Landlords

Vulnerable tenants thrown out by private landlords and unable to find anywhere else to live accounted for a third of all homelessness in London last year. The number of London households classed as homeless by local authorities rose three per cent to 4,350 in the three months to December, according to latest government figures. The biggest reason for “loss of last settled home” was the ending of a tenancy by a landlord. This accounted for 33 per cent of new homelessness in London, up from 28 per cent in 2012.Campaigners said the figures showed the need to bolster the protection and rights of “generation rent” and encourage longer terms and more secure tenancies. About a quarter of Londoners now rent from private landlords.  Read more on the Evening Standard website.

Rent Support Scheme Nears 100% Success in Preventing Evictions

A scheme that helps vulnerable tenants in rent arrears avoid eviction has recorded a 97% success rate for keeping people in their homes. The 10-week Rent Support Programme is run by Kineara, a social enterprise founded in 2012 to create services that save money and have a social impact. The programme, which was developed in partnership with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, housing association Poplar HARCA and Kineara, works with residents and their families who are in rent arrears to help them out of debt and get them to a better place emotionally as well as financially. Read more on 24dash.

'Shocking' Bedroom Tax Should Be Axed, Says UN Investigator

The United Nations' special investigator on housing has told the British government it should scrap the bedroom tax, after hearing "shocking" accounts of how the policy was affecting vulnerable citizens during a visit to the UK.  Britain's record on housing was also worsening from a human rights perspective, Raquel Rolnik, the UN special rapporteur on housing, said.  After speaking to dozens of council house tenants in Britain during her visit over the past fortnight, Rolnik said she was particularly concerned by the impact of bedroom tax.  Rolnik said she was disturbed by the extent of unhappiness caused by the bedroom tax and struck by how heavily this policy was affecting "the most vulnerable, the most fragile, the people who are on the fringes of coping with everyday life". Read more on the Guardian website.

Spare Room Subsidy: Funding Update

The government have announced an additional £35m in-year funding to help claimants affected by changes to housing benefit in the social sector who need extra support. The £35m funding consists of:

*£10m transitional payments distributed to all councils

*£5m discretionary housing payment funding for the least densely populated areas in the country

*a new £20m discretionary housing payment fund

This is in addition to existing discretionary housing payment funding provided to councils this year that will help support vulnerable residents as welfare reform changes are introduced.  Read more on the Gov.uk website.

Funding Boost to Tackle Beds in Sheds

Housing Minister Mark Prisk has pledged to “up the pressure” on criminal landlords who trap vulnerable tenants in so-called ‘beds in sheds’. He gave a funding boost to 4 London boroughs to further support their ongoing efforts to tackle the problem head-on and end this practice.  Beds in sheds are often rented to migrants, including some with no right to be in the UK, at extortionate rates.  Mr Prisk said the funding - nearly £800,000 - will help the 4 London boroughs with the biggest problems of beds in sheds to continue their work over the next year.  Read more on the Gov.uk website.

Minister Fears Housing Benefit Plan Risks Rise in Homelessness

The proposed change away from paying most housing benefits directly to landlords in favour of payments to tenants has sparked concern at the top levels of government that tenants who cannot manage their money will fall into arrears and be made homeless and also led to fears that social landlords will not have the financial security to invest in much needed new affordable homes.  Danny Alexander, the Liberal Democrat chief secretary to the Treasury, has written to work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, outlining his fears about the change in housing support, and urging his Conservative cabinet colleague to moderate his reforms.  It is understood that Alexander accepts that tenants will not all get a choice about how their housing benefit is paid, but he has threatened to block the changes unless more safeguards are brought in for the most vulnerable tenants.  Read more on the Guardian website.

Universal Credit: More Tenants Face Eviction and Rent Arrears

More housing benefit claimants will fall into arrears and face eviction as a result of the shift to monthly direct payments under Universal Credit, findings from a pilot scheme set up to test the proposed reforms suggest.  Southwark council, which is one of six areas piloting the change, says that arrears have soared since it started testing direct payments. It is advising ministers that however laudable the ideals, in practice the policy could be disastrous for many vulnerable tenants, and could leave landlords handling debts of millions of pounds.  Southwark found that of out of 850 tenants on the pilot, which started in July, 10% have had to have their housing benefit payment switched back to the landlord because they found it difficult to keep up with rent payments.  Read more on the Guardian website.

Universal Credit – Parliamentary Written Answer

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the draft Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment and Working Age Benefits (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2012, when his Department plans to provide a definition in law of the term vulnerable tenant for the purposes of determining eligibility for direct payments to landlords of the housing element of universal credit.

Steve Webb: We are not seeking to provide a definition in law of 'vulnerable tenants’ for the purposes of administering UC. Any attempt to do so would risk some people with needs failing outside of any definitions and thus not receiving the help that they may need. We accept that for a minority of claimants alternative payment arrangements may be required and this may include the payment of their housing costs (rent) direct to the landlord. This alternative payment arrangement will be considered on a case by case basis and assessed on their individual merits, and would be time-limited and delivered in conjunction with appropriate budgeting support to ensure claimants make a successful transition over time to monthly budgeting wherever possible.

Prisk Praises Council for 'Ripping Up Social Housing Rulebook'

Housing minister Mark Prisk has praised a London borough's plans to "rip up the social housing rule book" as it bids to introduce two-year fixed-term tenancies for under 25s and ban households earning more than £40,200 from accessing the housing register, instead, directing them towards low-cost homeownership.  Conservative-run Hammersmith and Fulham Council is aiming to introduce the policies in April 2013 - alongside plans to prioritise workers and those making a contribution to the community (e.g. ex-service personnel and foster carers) in its allocations and preventing the children of tenants inheriting their council property.  Under its tenancy reform, it wants to introduce five-year fixed-term tenancies as the norm, with two years for those aged 18-25 or with a history of anti-social behaviour. Secure tenancies, it said, will still be available for the most vulnerable residents. It will also only consider granting tenancies for those with a five-year local connection to the borough who are in clear housing need.  Mr Prisk said the council was "taking firm action to ensure that their homes are reserved for those who genuinely need and deserve them the most". Read more on 24dash.