Housing Estates Under Threat Of Demolition Handed Back To Council

Two west London housing estates that have been under threat of demolition by developers for 12 years are to be handed back to the council in a major victory for campaigners. Residents on the estates, Gibbs Green and West Kensington, will be told at a meeting this evening that their homes will be returned to public ownership under the terms of a deal struck by Hammersmith & Fulham council leader Stephen Cowan. It ends one of the longest-running disputes over regeneration plans between social housing tenants and developers in London in recent years. Read more on the Evening Standard website.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/earls-court-resident-victory-housing-estates-under-threat-of-demolition-handed-back-to-council-a4289941.html

Rent Rise Flexibility To Remain For Supported Housing

Supported housing providers will still be able to raise their rents on re-lets by up to 10%, despite the 1% social rent cut, a local government minister has confirmed. While landlords will still be forced to cut their rents by 1% a year over four years, they will be able to implement a one-off rent rise of up to 10% on supported and sheltered housing re-lets. They will only be able to do this once for each property. The concession could mitigate some of the effects of the annual rent reduction for supported housing providers, which the National Housing Federation says will cost housing associations £3.9bn over four years. However, it will not offset the problems set to be caused by the decision to cap housing benefit for new social tenants at Local Housing Allowance rates. Read more on Inside Housing.

Tenants To Vote On Plans To Transfer Housing Stock

Steps to transfer Hammermsith and Fulham housing stock to a new housing organisation have taken a step forward after gaining council backing. A Cabinet meeting voted to back the recommendation of the Independent Residents’ Commission on Council Housing , which was published last month.

H&F will now give a vote on whether or not to pass the ownership of all of its 17,000 homes to council housing residents. The findings of the report suggested the council may struggle to raise the money needed to adequately repair and maintain council homes, whereas a new resident-led housing association should be able to secure the investment needed. However, a transfer will not take place unless a majority of tenants vote in favour of the transfer. Read more on the H&F website.

HAs Are The Only Group That Can Provide Modernisation In Housing

A former housing minister has warned that Hammersmith and Fulham Council will lose £22 million a year due to government plans. Keith Hill, also former Minister for London, said: “Due to the July Budget and the commitment to rent reduction and the Housing Bill, it’s had a fantastic knock on effect on housing sector finance. Due to the rent reductions, Hammersmith and Fulham are set to lose £22 million, the cumulative effect being even harsher, losing £80 million. It then gets worse when you look at the effects on the council’s business plan, which is over 40 years, looking set to lose £400 million.” His thoughts come from the recent findings of ‘Resident’s Commission’ that he chaired for Hammersmith and Fulham Council. Read more on 24dash.

Residents’ Commission Says Council Houses Should Be Transferred To Community Ownership

Hammersmith & Fulham’s pioneering Residents’ Commission on Council Housing has recommended that the council transfer ownership of its homes to a local, not-for-profit, community-owned housing organisation. The proposals are contained in the final report of the independent commission, established to report on the future of council housing in Hammersmith & Fulham. The council will make a final decision at a cabinet meeting on 7 December. Read more on the Hammersmith & Fulham website.

Council 'Cannot Stop' Earls Court Regeneration

A council has admitted it is unable to stop the demolition of two council estates, set to be knocked down to make way for a divisive £12bn regeneration scheme. Hammersmith and Fulham Council wrote to residents earlier this month explaining it believes the demolition of West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates cannot be stopped. The redevelopment was agreed by the previous Conservative administration, and the local Labour party promised to re-negotiate the deal in its manifesto for local elections last May. But it has now concluded a legal sale of the land was completed in November 2013, leaving it powerless to stop the demolition. Read more on Inside Housing.

London Council Now Has No Families with Children in B&Bs

Hammersmith & Fulham council has bucked a London trend by having no local families with children in emergency housing in bed & breakfasts – for the first time in more than four years. The news is a major result for the council, which has regularly been forced to turn to expensive B&B landlords to help house local families in need. The council has worked hard to find alternative housing for families with children and have been successful in helping many families move directly into temporary accommodation. While far from ideal, it provides a better environment for families than B&Bs and is much less expensive. Read more on 24dash.

Stock Transfer Moves Step Closer

A stock transfer of 12,500 London council homes to a housing association or community-run landlord has moved closer. Cabinet members at Hammersmith & Fulham Council decided to press ahead with a stock transfer options appraisal for the future ownership of the council’s housing stock. Cabinet members also agreed to establish a residents’ commission to oversee the process. The Labour administration has pledged to fulfil a manifesto promise ‘to work with council housing residents to give them ownership of the land their homes are on’. Read more on Inside Housing.

Council Tenants Demand Control of Their Own Homes

A London local authority's tenants should be given control of their homes for the first time, a meeting of councillors and residents has recommended.  Members of the Economic Regeneration, Housing and the Arts Policy and Accountability Committee officially asked the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham to explore options to give its tenants control of how their homes are run. The Labour-run council will now be asked to create a new residents’ commission on social housing. The committee also asked the council to develop a new policy on how its homes are allocated. Read more on 24dash.

Council Allocation Policies Challenged By Court Ruling

Councils across the country may be forced to tear up allocation policies denying people from accessing housing waiting lists following a successful court challenge. Last Thursday, the Court of Appeal ruled that Hammersmith and Fulham’s policy, which disqualified Lina Jakimaviciute from its housing register because she was living in temporary accommodation, was unlawful. The court found that the policy breached the 1996 Housing act, which requires councils to give ‘reasonable preference’ to homeless people. Lawyers now believe that the ruling sets a legal precedent for other English local authorities. Read more on Inside Housing.

Tory Council Has Created Housing Crisis

A Tory council's "coordinated policies to cut affordable homes" has created a housing crisis, a new study has claimed. The report says that by selling council homes on the open market, emptying and demolishing blocks of affordable housing, and allowing developers to make excess profits by including no low-cost homes in major schemes, Hammersmith and Fulham Council has fuelled a housing shortage in the borough. The report, prepared for Hammersmith MP Andy Slaughter by housing expert Martin Peach, also accuses the local authority of manipulating statistics to hide housing need and classing households on incomes of £80,000 as a priority for rehousing. Read more on 24dash.

Tory Councillor Attacks NHF's 'False Representation' Of Bedroom Tax

A Tory councillor has accused the National Housing Federation and "socialist politicians" of ignoring the ‘successes’ of the government's controversial bedroom tax. Harry Phibbs, cabinet member for community engagement at Hammersmith & Fulham Council, has claimed that people such as NHF chief David Orr are "always happy to tour TV and radio studios to repeat the message" that tenants affected by the bedroom tax are unable to downsize due to the lengthy waiting list for smaller properties to become available. Phibbs claims that the view is "seldom challenged" by BBC interviewers. He says that the view is "entirely false" and "ignores the point that one and two bedroom social housing properties do not need to be empty". He adds: "There are a huge number available despite being (over) occupied. That is because those living in them would be delighted to swap." Read more on 24dash.

Council Launches 'Right To Buy Part' Scheme

Council tenants in Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) have become the first in the country to be able to buy their council home one share at a time. Councillors in the borough have approved a plan that will enable council tenants to buy a share in their home from as little as 15% and pay rent on the remaining share. Then, as and when they can afford it, they will be able to buy further shares until they eventually own it outright. Called Right to Buy Part, the new scheme, which works like a traditional shared ownership offer, has already received backing in the Mayor of London’s latest housing strategy and been welcomed by the CLG. The council estimates that households with incomes ranging from just under £19,000 to £37,000 will benefit from the pioneering scheme. Read more on the H&F website.

Council House Waiting Lists Slashed With a Sweep of a Pen

Havering, where 'right to buy' was launched, has cut its waiting list by 75% by telling applicants they are no longer eligible – and other councils are following suit. The London Borough of Hammersmith's housing waiting list has fallen– from 8,171 in April 2012 to just 768 in April 2013. Warrington's has fallen from 12,091 to 3,173. Havering's is now below 3,000.  Behind the extraordinary collapse in waiting lists is not a sudden surge in the supply of council homes. Instead, local authorities are writing to applicants telling them that they no longer stand a chance of obtaining a home from the council unless they meet new local criteria. Hammersmith has imposed a rule that people must live in the area for at least five years before they can apply for a council house. Havering, which used to allow people to apply for a council home if they had lived in the area for six months, has changed that to two years. Read more on the Guardian website.

MP Tells Developer to Beware Of Council's 'Social Cleansing'

A Labour MP has warned a major housebuilder that its proposed joint venture with a London council will involve it in "social engineering". Andy Slaughter, MP for Hammersmith, has written to developer Stanhope over its planned deal with Hammersmith and Fulham Council for the development of luxury flats after the demolition of "hundreds and possibly thousands" of council homes. In a letter to the firm's CEO, David Camp, the MP warns that Stanhope risks losing its corporate reputation if it proceeds with the scheme. Read more in Andy Slaughter’s post on Red Brick.

Christmas Card Warns Council Tenants 'Pay Your Rent'

"Insulting" Christmas cards warning "Don't overindulge this Christmas. Pay your rent!", have been sent out to west London council tenants. The card shows a pound coin fizzing in a glass. Hammersmith and Fulham Council said 46% of its tenants were in rent arrears and the cards were part of a "hard-hitting" campaign. However, tenants branded it as a "disgusting" move disguised as a festive message. Read more on the BBC website.

There Is No Exodus of the Poor

One of the country’s most expensive places to live has poured scorn on the suggestion that benefit caps imposed by the Government would provoke an exodus of tenants. As the third most expensive borough in the country, Hammersmith and Fulham might be expected to be a prime candidate for such an exodus, but the council has said it has the figures to demonstrate that people are not being forced out of the borough. Out of 546 households in temporary accommodation affected by the caps, just 10 have had to relocate to areas outside of Hammersmith and Fulham, the council said. In 344 cases, the council successfully negotiate a lower price, within the cap threshold, with private landlords. Another 180 people have been successfully rehoused in properties that are affordable under the Government’s tougher new rules – with 152 cases remaining in the borough and just 18 cases resettled in neighbouring boroughs, the council said. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Universal Credit Rollout

Universal Credit went live in Hammersmith on 28 October and will roll out to Rugby and Inverness on 25 November. These areas will take claims from the same claimant groups as the pathfinder areas in the north west.  It is believed that Universal Credit will roll out to Bath and Harrogate on 24 February 2014, and Shotton will follow in March.  Read more on the NHF website.

DWP Delays Universal Credit Pilot Roll Out

The DWP has again changed the timetable for the roll out of universal credit after confirming universal credit will be rolled out to new claimants in Hammersmith and Fulham from today (28 October). It previously announced it would also be rolled out in Rugby, Inverness, Harrogate, Bath and Shotton from October – but universal credit will only now be applied to these areas ‘by the spring’. The move represents another delay by the DWP, which initially hoped the policy would apply to all new claimants across Britain by the end of October.  Read more on Inside Housing.

Council to Offer the ‘Right to Part Buy’

Hammersmith & Fulham Council will present a proposal to its cabinet to offer tenants a shared ownership option under the right to buy scheme.  The capital raised would be reinvested in improving the council’s existing stock of 17,000 homes. A detailed proposal will be considered within the next few months. The council was unable to say if the shared owners would be offered a full £100,000 discount. Read more on Inside Housing.