More Young Notts People At Risk Of Homelessness Because Of Pandemic

At least 2,290 people aged between 16-24 approached their local authority in 2018/19 because they had become homeless or were at risk of losing their home, according to to a Freedom of Information request by Centrepoint, a youth homelessness charity. Of the 2,290 people, just 733 - or 32 percent - had a positive outcome, which includes finding accommodation or where homelessness was prevented. The charity is now concerned the pandemic may lead to more young people becoming homeless, having already received calls from people who had lost their homes due to the pandemic, as financial resources are stretched and local authorities come under pressure. Read more on the Chad website.

https://www.chad.co.uk/news/people/more-young-notts-people-risk-homelessness-because-pandemic-2561661

Youth Homeownership Rising

Following more than a decade of decline, the proportion of 25 to 34-year-olds owning their own home has increased, according to the government’s latest English Housing Survey. In 2018-19, 41% of 25-34-year olds lived in the private-rented sector and a further 41% were owner occupiers. Reports also reveal that, between 2003-04 and 2013-14, the proportion of 25-34-year-olds in owner occupation decreased from 59% to 36%. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/youth-homeownership-on-the-rise-but-national-crisis-looming/

Young People And Renters ‘Shut Out’ Of The Planning System

Planning needs “new forms of decision making”, with the present system often dominated by those less supportive of new homes in their local area, a new report reveals. People Powered Planning, published by Demos and funded by Nationwide Building Society, finds that a minority of homeowners (42%) support new homes, compared to a majority of renters (60%). However, the majority of homeowners (56%) have engaged with the planning system, compared to a minority of renters (29%). Download the report from the Demos website.

https://demos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/People-Powered-Planning.pdf

Young Britons Believe Dream Of Owning Home Is Over

One of Britain’s biggest mortgage lenders has found that 70% of young people now believe that the homeownership dream is over for their generation. Having carried out the largest-ever survey of potential first-time buyers, Santander said its own figures suggest less than 25% of 18- to 34-year-olds will be in a position to buy a home by the year 2026. The bank said that while 91% of the young people interviewed still aspire to own a home, over two-thirds said it was unlikely to happen unless they received the deposit from their parents. Back in 2006, around half of those under 34 were able to get on the property ladder. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/jul/31/young-britons-believe-dream-of-owning-home-is-over-survey-says

High Rents In English Cities Forcing Young To Stay In Small Towns

One of the defining patterns of English life in which young people move from small towns with limited prospects to bigger cities to seek their fortune is in dramatic decline. More young people are getting stuck where they grew up or went to university because they cannot afford rents in places where they can earn more money, according to the Resolution Foundation. It found the number of people aged 25 to 34 starting a new job and moving home in the last year had fallen 40% over the last two decades. Whereas previous generations were able to move to big cities to develop their careers, the current millennial generation is enduring a slump in mobility caused by rising rents, which can wipe out the financial gains of a move. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jun/06/high-rents-in-english-cities-forcing-young-to-stay-in-small-towns

Brokenshire: Let Young People Use Their Pensions To Buy Homes

      Young people should be allowed to dip into their pensions so they can afford to get on the housing ladder, the housing secretary James Brokenshire has said. Speaking at an event hosted by the think tank Policy Exchange, Mr Brokenshire said the country needed to look at allowing people to use some of their pension pot as a deposit to buy their first homes. He said: “It seems rather obtuse that we would deny people the opportunity to do this, given that we know those who own their own home by retirement are on average wealthier and do not have the burden of the largest expense in retirement – accommodation.” Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news-banner/brokenshire-let-young-people-use-their-pensions-to-buy-homes-61703

Nearly A Million More Young Adults Now Live With Parents

Nearly a million more young adults are living with their parents than was the case two decades ago, a study has found. The figures, in a report by the cross-party thinktank Civitas, will fuel concerns that too little is being done to protect young people from Britain’s housing crisis. The proportion of people aged 20 to 34 who live with their parents has risen from 19.48% in 1997, equating to 2.4 million people, to 25.91% in 2017, equating to 3.4 million. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/08/million-more-young-adults-live-parents-uk-housing

'Micro-Homes Could Solve' London's Housing Crisis

Living in micro-homes could "expand choice" for young professionals and help tackle London's housing crisis, a report has suggested. A neoliberal think tank is calling for the Greater London Authority (GLA) to scrap its rules on minimum floor space. The Adam Smith Institute said homes in the capital with less than 37 sq m of floor space could be an "affordable opportunity" for young people. But the GLA said "cramming people in" was not the answer to the problem. Micro-homes are defined by the British Property Federation as living spaces between 20 and 40 sq m, that are either self-contained or share some amenities. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-46938445

99% Of Councils Feel LHA Cap Restricts Young People’s Access To Housing

Youth homelessness charity Centrepoint said 99% of councils think the level of housing benefit young people are entitled to is not enough to rent in the private sector. People under 35 are usually only entitled to a lower rate of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) known as the Shared Accommodation Rate. And 85% of the 119 English local authorities surveyed said they struggle to deliver their housing duties because of welfare reforms affecting young people. Download the research report The Homelessness Reduction Act: Will it work for young people? From the Centrepoint website.

https://centrepoint.org.uk/media/2511/the-homelessness-reduction-act-will-it-work-for-young-people.pdf

Councils Warn Homelessness Reduction Act Hampered By Welfare Restrictions

Nearly all councils now think the level of housing benefit young people are entitled to isn’t enough to rent in the private sector, according to a new survey by Centrepoint. The charity fears that without reform, welfare restrictions will continue to drive young people into homelessness. This is despite the government’s flagship Homelessness Reduction Act which requires local authorities to provide more tailored support and advice to anyone who is threatened with homelessness. Centrepoint surveyed 119 English councils to examine the challenges they face in delivering their housing duties. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/councils-warn-homelessness-reduction-act-hampered-by-welfare-restrictions/

86,000 Young People In The UK Homeless Or At Risk

At least 86,000 young people across the UK are estimated to have sought help from local authorities in 2016-2017 because they were homeless or at risk of homelessness, according to new research released by Centrepoint. The LGA says the findings further reinforce its ‘crucial’ case for councils being able to borrow to build new homes and adapt welfare reforms to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place. Centrepoint bases its figures on 217 Freedom of Information responses from local authorities in England, a robust estimate for the 109 that did not provide this data, and data from the devolved nations. Read more on 24housing.

http://www.24housing.co.uk/news/86000-young-people-in-the-uk-homeless-or-at-risk-as-councils-struggle-to-meet-demand/

Build More Bungalows To Tackle Housing Crisis

Stamp Duty must be overhauled in the Budget to help young people get on property ladder, the chairman of the influential Commons’ Treasury Select Committee has said. Nicky Morgan, a former Tory Cabinet minister, also called for new measures to encourage developers to build more bungalows for pensioners to move into and free up larger family homes. New research from the Taxpayers’ Alliance also warns that - without reform - the tax will be paid by nine of 10 home owners by the time of the next general election in May 2022. Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.

Young People Hit By Spending Squeeze As Falling Incomes And Rising Housing Costs Take Their Toll

Young people have experienced the tightest squeeze on household spending since 2000 and now consume 15 per cent less than older working age people on items other than housing, according to a new report by the Resolution Foundation. The finding of a consumption ‘youth deficit’ is in stark contrast to common claims that today’s young are spending like there’s no tomorrow and mark a major turnaround from the recent past when earlier generations experienced a ‘youth premium’. Consuming Forces  tracks the spending patterns of different age groups since the 1960s to see how changes in earnings and incomes have fed through into what people spend their money on from week to week. Read more on the Resolution Foundation website.

Capital Gains Tax On All Homes Needed

The government needs to implement a root-and-branch overhaul of the way housing is taxed and regulated to address the ‘crisis’ facing young people as they struggle to buy or rent property, a new book proposes. In addition to greatly increasing the supply of social housing, ministers should introduce a capital gains tax on the sale of all homes, carry out long-overdue reforms to council tax so that owners of large houses pay more, and regulate the rental sector much more actively. These are central arguments of ‘The Crisis for Young People: Generational Inequalities in Education, Work, Housing and Welfare’, a new book by professor Andy Green of UCL Institute of Education (IOE). Read more on 24housing.

Capping Aspiration: The Millennial Housing Challenge

The government’s plans to cap housing benefit at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) levels would lock 84% of young people in low-paid, insecure jobs out of all housing options in the South East. This is the warning from research by Sheffield Hallam University for the Consortium of Associations in the South East (CASE). CASE members said the government should reconsider using the shared accommodation rate as the maximum level for housing benefit for under-35s. Instead, it should give associations and local authorities the freedoms and flexibilities to continue to meet the housing needs of this group, the report said. Researchers said in their report Capping aspiration: the millennial housing challenge that some 84% of people aged under 35 in the South East would be affected when benefits are capped from April 2019. Download the report from the Sovreign website.

UK Will Never Build Enough Homes To Keep Prices Down

Britain will never build enough houses to make property affordable for young people, according to research. A study presented to the Royal Economic Society’s annual conference said those hoping to get on the ladder may have to rely on windows of opportunity created by periodic slumps in the market. However, the overall trend will remain for residential property price rises to outpace salary growth, according to economists at the University of Reading. The government has discussed moves to increase the supply of homes but the changes are on far too small a scale to act as a brake on price rises. Read more on the Telegraph website.

Two-Thirds Of Councils Struggling To Find Tenancies For Homeless People

Nearly two-thirds of councils across England are struggling to find tenancies for homeless people. Out of 162 councils, 64% said they are finding it increasingly difficult to house homeless young people and large families, and 85% said they are struggling to help single people aged 25-34 into accommodation. An overwhelming majority of councils said they expect the roll-out of Universal Credit to exacerbate homelessness, mainly because of the potential impact it will have on landlords’ willingness to let to homeless people. Nearly half (49%) said they are finding it very difficult to find private rented accommodation for homeless applicants. Read more on Inside Housing.

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.

Tory MP Warns Theresa May Against ‘Catastrophic’ Housing Benefit Cuts To Under-22s

Theresa May is facing a potential backbench revolt over housing benefit cuts after one Tory branded the changes as “catastrophic”. David Burrowes, Conservative MP for Enfield Southgate, warned that the decision to scrap the benefit for under-22s would “pull the housing rug from vulnerable young people.” While the measure was part of the Tory’s 2015 manifesto, charities and campaigners had hoped the change of Prime Minister last year meant the plans would be scrapped. Labour branded the cuts as “disgraceful”, and today Burrowes called on the Government to rethink the policy. He told Huff Post UK: “The changes planned for April should await the outcome of the supported housing consultation. Read more on the Huffington Post website.

Time To Drop The ‘Hated’ Ban On Housing Benefit For 18-21s

Reports suggest Ministers are looking again at controversial plans to bar 18-21s from claiming housing benefit. The current government inherited highly risky plans to prevent younger people receiving housing support under Universal Credit, with the ban due to take effect in a little over four weeks. There are many reasons why a small number of young people in challenging situations may be unable to live at home and need support from the benefit system to keep a roof over their head. Housing benefit can be a vital lifeline for those escaping violence, abuse, estrangement or bereavement.Sources admit that the current crop of Ministers and their civil servants “hate the policy” but feel unable to abandon it entirely because it is a manifesto commitment. Read more on the Shelter blog.