‘Low Pay Penalty’ For Social Housing Tenants

Workers living in social housing face a ‘pay penalty’ compared to those in other types of accommodation, a new report reveals. The report, Moving Up: Higher wages for social housing tenants, shows that average hourly wages among social housing tenants are very low compared to the economy as a whole. The report calls for the new government to support providers of social housing to improve the employment, training and wage progression prospects of their tenants. The report identifies a number of factors that drive down wages, including low skill levels; lack of access to training; caring responsibilities; prevalence of work-limiting health conditions; and geographical factors such as access to jobs. Download the report from the Circle Housing website.

Council To Grab Back Housing From ‘Failing’ Social Landlords

Talks are under way to try and bring social housing estates in London’s deprived East End back under local authority control.  It follows protests that some landlords don’t carrying out repairs or proper gas safety checks and have “lost touch” with the community. Now Tower Hamlets Council is in talks with Circle Housing to try and prevent its planned merger with Infinity Sutton, turning it into Europe’s biggest social landlord and becoming even less accountable to local families.  The council, meanwhile, has voted that Circle Housing be dropped as a preferred partner for development, a move that would seriously hinder any future planning applications for new properties. Read more on the East London Advertiser website.

Bedroom Tax Home Swap Campaign Signs Up 50,000 Properties

Circle Housing is still seeing the benefits of its six-month public relations campaign to help social tenants with a spare room downsize and avoid the bedroom tax. The publicity generated by the PR threw the spotlight on the national House Exchange website, run by Circle, where social tenants from across the UK can swap homes. The campaign, launched last February, persuaded seven new social landlords to register with the site, bringing with them an additional 50,000 properties. Read more on the Guardian website.

Bedroom Tax Means More Tenants Face Eviction

The head of Circle Housing Group, which manages 65,000 homes, has warned of a rise in evictions of tenants because of the government's new under-occupancy penalty, more commonly known as the bedroom tax. Nearly 4,000 of Circle's households are affected by the rule. In recent weeks the group has seen a "new pattern of arrears developing" likely to be repeated nationally, with 50% of tenants paying the charge in full, 25% part-paying and 25% not paying at all. Mark Rogers said there were simply not enough vacant smaller properties for people affected to move into to avoid the charge.  Read more on the Observer website.