Shocking Fall In Numbers Of Social Rented Homes

The number of council and housing association homes being let at social rent fell by 210,000 between 2012 and 2020, the Chartered Institute of Housing’s (CIH) UK Housing Review has revealed. The report found that 280,000 social rent homes have been sold, converted to higher rents or demolished since April 2012, while just 70,000 new social rent homes have been built. Right to Buy sales, which accounted for 120,000 homes, and conversion to higher affordable rent tenures, which accounted for 116,000 homes, were the two biggest reasons for the loss of social rent homes. Read more on the CIH website.

https://www.cih.org/news/uk-housing-review-2021-highlights-shocking-fall-in-numbers-of-social-rented-homes

Major Backlash Over Permitted Development Rights Expansion

A government consultation that sought views on extending PDR to include more types of schemes and cut application decision times has received strong opposition from a number of groups. Responding to the consultation, which closed on 29 January, the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) warned that the proposals “risk delivering poor-quality homes that undermine people’s health, well-being and quality of life”. The policy, which allows developers to bypass the planning system on certain sites, has been linked with a proliferation of inadequate housing in recent years, with the government’s own review into PDR acknowledging its negative effects. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/government-receives-major-backlash-over-permitted-development-rights-expansion-69396?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60 

‘Remorseless Rise’ In Use Of Temporary Accommodation

Use of temporary accommodation is “rising remorselessly” despite a fall in homelessness acceptances, according to the 2020 UK Housing Review. The review reports the total again rose by 5% year-on-year to top more than 86,000 last June – 79% above its low point eight years ago. London continues to account for two-thirds of the total number of placements at any one point in time – 57,000 as of June last year. Related spending by councils is also growing quickly, totalling almost £1.1bn to March last year – a 78% in just five years. Read the Review on the CIH website.

https://www.ukhousingreview.org.uk/ukhr20/acknowledgements.html

Councils Still Face Numerous Barriers To Building Homes

Councils still face a number of obstacles to building more homes despite hopes that lifting the HRA cap would result in a development spree, new research has found. When the borrowing caps that restricted council house-building were lifted a year ago, the government said it heralded “a new generation of council homes,” but a new report by the Chartered Institute of Housing, National Federation of ALMOs and the Association of Retained Council Housing show councils still face obstacles to building more homes. Download the report from the CIH website.

http://www.cih.org/resources/PDF/Policy%20free%20download%20pdfs/LA%20New%20Build%20Report%20Jan20.pdf

Put People Before Process When Allocating Social Housing

Rules and processes designed to decide who gets access to social housing could be failing those in greatest need, according to new research from the Chartered Institute of Housing. In Rethinking Allocations, the CIH found that, faced with not enough genuinely affordable homes, councils and housing associations are forced to ration the housing they have – and that the way they allocate these homes can exclude some very vulnerable people. There are at least four million households in England waiting for social housing, and this number is growing all the time. Download the report from the CIH website.

http://www.cih.org/resources/Rethinking%20allocations.pdf

Homeless Denied Social Housing For Being Too Poor

Homeless people are being denied access to affordable housing because social landlords are routinely excluding prospective tenants who are deemed too poor or vulnerable to pay the rent. Research by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) found that “screening out” of homeless applicants nominated for newly available lets was widespread, as housing associations and local authorities increasingly ration their shrinking stocks of social homes. In many cases nominees were refused a home because of the likelihood they would accrue major rent arrears after moving on to universal credit, because of the probability they would be hit by the bedroom tax or because the benefit cap had made them a financial risk. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/17/homeless-denied-housing-over-fears-they-are-too-poor-study-says

Three-Quarters Of British Public Believe There Is A Housing Crisis

Almost three-quarters of people across Great Britain believe there’s a housing crisis – and more than half think it’s not spoken about enough, according to a new survey by Ipsos MORI for the Chartered Institute of Housing. As outlined in reports, 57% think that the rising cost of housing will impact on them personally a great deal or a fair amount in the next five years – with 56% saying the same of ‘Brexit’. Overall 55% of the public, and 68% of renters, think housing has been discussed too little in Britain over the last few years. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/three-quarters-of-british-public-believe-there-is-a-housing-crisis/

£12.8bn Needed Annually To End Housing Crisis

Top sector voices say £12.8bn of investment a year is now needed to tackle the housing crisis – and tell government that would be money well spent. The NHF has released research reinforcing the 10-year potential of such investment to kickstart the building of around 1.45m homes for social rent or shared ownership. Now, a coalition of leading housing groups and charities is calling for the government to make such investment real – this includes the NHF, Shelter, Crisis, CPRE, and the Chartered Institute of Housing. Download a copy of the research from the NHF website.

http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/doc.housing.org.uk/Editorial/Grant_modelling_report_June_2019.pdf

Affordable Housing Supply Review

The independent affordable housing supply review panel has today released its recommendations following almost a year of work engaging with stakeholders from across the sector. The review has worked across a number of workstreams engaging with experts considering the supply of land, innovative housing and measuring housing need.The review’s main recommendations cover:

·         Consolidate and simplify standards for all new build affordable homes;

·         New affordable homes to be built to EPC ‘A’ standard from 2021 

·         Implementing a five-year rent policy from 2020-21

·         Establishing an arms-length body to act as a hub for public sector land management and professional services, to speed up the development of public land for affordable housing;

·         A new approach to replace the Social Housing Grant

Read more on the CIH website.

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

Government’s Own Stats ‘Add Up To The End Of Right To Buy’

CIH says the government’s own statistics add up to the end of Right To Buy, with councils selling 2,645 dwellings under the scheme from October to December last year – and only 1,038 replacements started on site or acquired. The MHCLG stats confirm a 9.4% increase in sales on the previous quarter and a 32% fall in starts or acquisitions. CIH chief executive Terrie Alafat CBE said the stats confirmed CIH’s view that the wider costs of Right To Buy exceed its benefits. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/governments-own-stats-add-up-to-the-end-of-right-to-buy/

Sector Must Stop ‘Finger Pointing’ To End Homelessness

The Homes for Cathy conference has heard that housing can and should be doing more to end homelessness. In the opening session, Terrie Alafat, CEO of the Charted Institute of Housing, said ending homelessness was “not something that cannot be done”. She added: “We have to create an environment where we can truly end homelessness.” In a common theme in the morning sessions, Alafat mentioned allocations, saying: “We know we need policy solutions but there are lots of things we can be getting on with. We have a scarce resource of social housing, and we have to ask questions about how we are using it.” Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/sector-must-stop-finger-pointing-to-end-homelessness/

165,000+ Social Rent Homes Lost In Six Years

More than 165,000 of the most affordable rented homes have been lost across England in just six years, according to new analysis from the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH). Based on reports from the MHCLG and Homes England, figures show that 117,828 local authority homes and 47,869 housing association homes for social rent were lost between 2012 and 2018. Despite some social rent new-builds, numbers have continued to fall – because of Right To Buy sales and properties being converted to ‘affordable rent’ or demolished. CIH has further projected a loss reach of 199,000 by 2020. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/over-165000-social-rent-homes-lost-in-six-years-analysis-shows/

Right To Buy Stats Reinforce A ‘Need To Suspend The Scheme’

CIH says latest MHCLG stats showing councils sold 2,417 homes under the Right to Buy scheme over the July-September quarter reinforce a need to suspend the scheme. The stats also show 1,160 homes started or acquired to replace those sold over the same period. The 2,417 is 22% down on the 3,115 sold in the same quarter of 2017-18, while councils received some £205m from the sales – 17% lower than the £247m in the same quarter of 2017-18. An MHCLG spokesperson said the stats showed councils have started work on 5,167 properties in the last year, which is up by 12 per cent on the year before. Read more on the CIH website.

http://www.cih.org/news-article/display/vpathDCR/templatedata/cih/news-article/data/CIH_calls_on_government_to_suspend_right_to_buy_as_new_figures_reveal_less_than_a_third_of_homes_sold_since_2012_have_been_replaced

Home-Owners Get More Government Subsidy Than Social Housing Tenants Or Private Renters

Home-owners get a much bigger slice of government help than renters according to a new report by the Chartered Institute of Housing. Contrary to expectations, an exhaustive analysis of government spending, taxation and regulation of the housing market reaches the conclusion that home-owners are the most subsidised, followed by social housing tenants and then private landlords and renters. It’s the first study to have made such a broad comparison of government intervention in the market, taking account not only of government spending on grants, loans and guarantees, but also tax reliefs, welfare benefits and regulatory mechanisms which aim to stimulate or control the three main routes by which people get access to housing. Read more on the CIH website.

http://www.cih.org/news-article/display/vpathDCR/templatedata/cih/news-article/data/Home-owners_get_more_government_subsidy_than_social_housing_tenants_or_private_renters_new_report

New Project To Examine Allocation Of Social Housing In England

The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) is launching a new project to explore how social housing is being allocated across England. The Rethinking allocations project aims to analyse what housing associations and councils are doing now and why they are doing it, and hopes to stimulate debate about how things could be improved. Rethinking allocations is the next stage of CIH’s Rethinking social housing project, which saw more than 3,000 people have their say on the future of social housing via workshops, an online survey and public polling. Read more on the CIH website.

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

Councils Losing £300m A Year Due To Right To Buy

Total Right to Buy discounts have climbed to £1bn a year, leading to a net loss of some £300m for councils, according to new analysis from the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH). Cutting the discounts available could lead to an extra 12,000 homes being built a year, the CIH has calculated. But the organisation says Right to Buy should be suspended altogether to stem the loss of social rented homes. The extent of the cost to the public sector is revealed in the UK Housing Review 2018 Autumn briefing paper. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/councils-losing-300m-a-year-due-to-right-to-buy/

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

Sector Urged To ‘Own’ A Future Ranking Social Housing Alongside The NHS

Housing 2018 has heard a call to rank social housing alongside the NHS – with poll citing strong public support – as the sector is urged to ‘own’ its future. CIH wants Right to Buy suspended to stem the loss of social rented homes and investment shifted from private housing to affordable homes – citing its own analysis showing 79% of the government’s £53bn housing budget up to 2020/21 being pushed towards the private market and just 21% going to affordable. In stimulating wider national debate over the future role and purpose of social housing, the project took on new significance when it was revealed that the public inquiry into the Grenfell disaster would not consider wider issues regarding social housing. Download a copy of the report from the CIH website.

http://www.cih.org/resources/PDF/Policy%20free%20download%20pdfs/Final%20Rethinking%20social%20housing%20report.pdf

Workplace Stress In The Housing Sector Is A Major Issue

In 2016/17 12.5 million working days were lost due to work-related stress, depression or anxiety and 526,000 workers were suffering from work-related mental health issues. With 9.7 million workers saying that in 2016/17 their productivity is damaged by stress and anxiety caused by the workplace. Across the country workloads are reported to be growing and this is a particular issue in the social housing sector as it seeks to respond to the UK’s housing crisis and unsettled political and economic landscape. More than ever before, the success of social housing sector depends upon the commitment and dedication of the people who work in the sector. Therefore, reducing stress at work and improving the wellbeing of colleagues has never been more important for the continued delivery of core housing services. Read more on the CIH website.

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