Bedroom Tax Bill Would 'Create More Administration for Social Landlords'

A proposed bill to exempt hundreds of thousands of households from the bedroom tax would lead to legal challenges, appeals and more administration costs for social landlords, sector experts have warned. A private members bill to change the bedroom tax, tabled by Liberal Democrat backbencher MP Andrew George, passed its second reading in the House of Commons by 306 votes to 231 last Friday. Giles Peaker, partner at law firm Anthony Gold Solicitors, said social landlords would have to monitor bids through their choice-based lettings systems to see who has rejected a reasonable offer of accommodation. They would then have to share the information with the local authority housing benefit department. Read more on Inside Housing.

Council Severs Link between Homelessness and Social Tenancies

A Conservative-run council is to sever the link between a homelessness application and a social housing tenancy as it bids to overhaul its allocations policy.  Hammersmith and Fulham Council (HandF) says it wants to reward hard working residents with a local connection to the borough, who make a positive contribution to the community.  It has unveiled a range of measures including scrapping its choice-based lettings system, severing the link between homelessness applications and social tenancies, giving greater priority to those in work and offering five-year fixed-term social tenancies. It also plans to restrict the waiting list to those earning below £40,000.  It says the current register - which can see anyone from any part of the country go on it - "creates false hopes and expectations for applicants".  The council made just under 500 new lettings last year, despite having a waiting list of over 10,000.  Read more on the HandF website.

Stricter Rules Target Council House Waiting List

Norwich and South Norfolk councils have introduced stricter rules for social housing allocations in a bid to focus support on those most in need.  They have tightened the waiting list rules after research into their choice based lettings scheme, by KPMG, revealed that about 70% of applicants in south Norfolk had little or no need for social homes, while just over half of the 4,000 applicants on the register, including one applicant who registered in 1968, had never bid for a home.  Norwich City Council - which has nearly 7,000 households on its register - said it had people living in Glasgow on its waiting list.  New rules now mean people on the register need a local connection and must apply on the phone or in person.  Meanwhile, South Norfolk Council - which has just over 4,000 households on its register - has replaced its online application form with an interview by council staff after 80% of applicants were found to be incorrectly filling out their application form.  In addition, households who find a home are prohibited from joining the register for a year.  Read more on the Norwich Evening News website.

Council Offers Help To Transform Empty Houses

Eden District Council in Cumbria is planning to offer interest free loans of up to £15,000 to enable empty property owners to bring their homes back into use. There are nearly 400 empty properties in the Eden district. Currently owners of empty properties can access grants of up to £20,000 from the council to help refurbish their properties and realise some valuable income through renting them to people registered on the Choice Based Lettings Scheme for a minimum of five years. However, the council wants to widen the scheme by offering an interest free loan of up to £15,000 over a three-year term to enable empty property owners to refurbish their assets. It says the owners can then sell or rent them to enable repayment. It adds that there would be no stipulation on who the property can be sold or rented to. The council is also working with housing associations to offer a scheme to lease empty properties for a period of 5-10 years which would mean a guaranteed rental income for property owners. Read more on the Eden Council website.

Run-Down Garages To Provide Almost 100 Homes

A collection of run-down garages could soon be turned into almost 100 new homes after a council agreed in principle to the change. Tamworth Council, in Staffordshire, agreed to free up 26 garage sites to provide land for 87 new homes. Final decision on redevelopment is subject to results of a feasibility study, but if given the go-ahead, the homes would be let through the council’s choice-based letting scheme, Finding a Home, to households in need. Around 2,200 people are currently on the waiting list for social housing in Tamworth, while there are 6,230 social rent homes in the borough. Read more on the Tamworth Herald website.

Choice Based Lettings A 'Cause Of Ethnic Segregation'

Choice based lettings has become a major cause of ethnic segregation in England, despite being set up to encourage mixed communities. Heralded as a solution to tensions in the 1990s, the system aimed to create ethnically and socio-economically mixed neighbourhoods in Bradford, Oldham and Burnley. But a study led by the Centre for Housing Research at the University St Andrews found that choice based lettings have effectively segregated communities. The findings suggest that a lack of real choice has forced ethnic minorities to move to deprived neighbourhoods and frequently to neighbourhoods with high concentrations of other ethnic minorities. Read more on Inside Housing.

Barnet Scraps Choice-Based Lettings Scheme

Barnet Council has scrapped its choice-based lettings scheme returning to a system where the council allocates people to the homes available. The decision was taken at a council cabinet meeting last week despite warnings that the new system could result in more appeals. Under the new system, families requiring social housing will no longer bid for a house of their choice from a council list. Instead, they would be assisted by officers who will offer the properties the council has at the time. Read more on Inside Housing.

Housing Associations – Parliamentary Written Answer

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for CLG what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the bidding system for prospective tenants operated by housing associations; and if he will make a statement.
Andrew Stunell: Research into the longer term impacts of choice based lettings (CBL) was carried out by Heriot Watt university for the Department for Communities and Local Government and the report of the findings, "Monitoring the longer term impacts of choice based letting", was published by the Department in October 2006. The research assessed the impacts of choice based lettings across a range of issues, including tenancy sustainment, community cohesion, tenant mobility, demand for social housing and cost-effectiveness, and the report included the following findings:
*in the context of multi-ethnic areas, choice based letting tends to reduce rather than compound ethnic segregation
*outcomes for homeless households are largely positive, eg under choice based lettings they are more likely to be housed in high demand areas
*choice based lettings generates improved tenancy sustainment
*choice based lettings encourages applicants to think more flexibly about their housing choices
*choice based lettings set-up costs can be off-set by housing management efficiencies.

Westminster to Restrict Lettings

A council has banned overcrowded families and those with serious medical conditions from bidding for new housing. Westminster Council has closed its choice-based lettings bidding list until April 2011 to all groups except those living in temporary accommodation. It said it had done so in order to meet central targets for rehousing people in temporary accommodation. The list of those who cannot apply to move home include those on the statutory overcrowded waiting list and those with a category A medical condition. Read the full story together with a legal opinion on Westminster’s action on the Inside Housing website by clicking on the logo below.

Allocations Scheme Reduces Segregation

Choice-based lettings have helped reduce ethnic segregation, according to CLG research. In a statement on its strategy for tackling race inequalities, the department says the allocations system is creating more mixed communities. ‘Research on our choice-based lettings programme, giving people a greater say over their social housing, suggests that this is helping to reduce ethnic segregation,’ it states. Read more on the Inside Housing website.